As part of her series of meetings to present the priorities of the Italian G7 Presidency for 2024, the President of the Council of Ministers, Giorgia Meloni, had a bilateral meeting today with the President of the United States of America, Joseph R. Biden, Jr., in Washington D.C..
The meeting provided an opportunity to discuss the excellent state of bilateral relations between the two Nations, following on from last July’s joint declaration. The discussion highlighted the shared approaches to the most pressing global challenges. With reference to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the common defence of the rules-based international order was reaffirmed. There was a similar convergence of views on the crisis in the Middle East, in terms of preventing an escalation in the region and providing humanitarian support to Gaza, on security and stability in the Red Sea and on transatlantic coordination in the Indo-Pacific region. The meeting also allowed for an exchange of views on cooperation with the African continent, in the context of the ‘Mattei plan for Africa’, and on opportunities for collaboration in areas of common interest, also in order to address the migration challenge together. In this regard, Italy presented an initiative for an international coalition against human traffickers.
At bilateral level, the two Leaders noted with satisfaction that trade between Italy and the United States reached an all-time high last year, with a volume of 102 billion dollars, agreeing that they could reach even more ambitious results. The meeting was also an opportunity to once again thank the American institutions for granting authorisation to transfer Chico Forti to Italy.