President Biden aims to rebuild trans-Atlantic ties strained during Former President – Donald Trump’s leadership
The President of United states (U.S.) – Joe Biden has embarked on an 8-day visit to Europe today, i.e., Wednesday, June 9, 2021, to rebuild trans-Atlantic ties strained during Former President – Donald Trump’s leadership and to reframe relations with Russia.
This is Biden’s first presidential visit abroad. During his visit, he will first attend the G7 Summit at Carbis Bay, St. Ives, Cornwall, United Kingdom (U.K.), that will also feature leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and U.K.
Before leaving for Europe, Biden told media, “Will the democratic alliances and institutions that shaped so much of the last century prove their capacity against modern-day threats and adversaries? I believe the answer is yes. And this week in Europe, we have the chance to prove it.”
He also tweeted before leaving,
Tomorrow, I depart for Europe on the first foreign travel of my presidency. The trip is about realizing America’s renewed commitment to our allies and demonstrating that democracies can both meet the challenges and deter the threats of this new age. https://t.co/Hq3bFCP3ew
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 8, 2021
After the G7 Summit, Biden will meet his NATO allies in Brussels. He will also meet the President of European Commission – Ursula von der Leyen. Biden is expected to reassure his European allies about America’s role in the distribution of the Coronavirus (COVOD-19) vaccine. He is also likely to make a major announcement related to COVID-19 vaccine production at the G7 Summit.
The biggest task that Biden has is of developing relations with European Union (E.U.) which had gone for a tossing during Trump’s regime who believed in “America first” policy. Compared to Trump, Biden is much more preferred in Europe. Biden has undone a lot of moves that were taken by Trump.
Biden also halted Trump’s decision of withdrawal of U.S. troops from Germany. In 2020, Trump announced to pull out 12,000 of the 34,500 troops from Germany. Trump was very critical of Germany’s contributions to NATO during his tenure. Trump believed that Germany’s spending on defence is too low and it is not viable to keep the U.S. troops posted there.
Separately, Trump was never in favour of keeping up the NATO membership. The Paris Agreement which focussed on building an environment friendly and sustainable world, was criticised by Trump.
Post this, he would also be meeting the President of Russia – Vladimir Putin. As new technologies reshape the world in fundamental ways, exposing vulnerabilities like ransomware attacks and creating threats such as invasive AI-driven surveillance will be discussed with Putin. On Sunday, June 13, 2021, he will meet Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle.
