President Joe Biden will meet with his British, French and German counterparts on Iran as part of the G20 as Chinense President Xi Jinping will participate in the summit via video link after American criticism he wasn't attending.
Biden will host a sitdown with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday. They make up the E3 - the European leaders who signed onto the Iran nuclear deal.
The president is seeking a 'united' policy on Iran, National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Thursday.
'It's an opportunity to closely coordinate with our key European partners, at the leader level, on a joint negotiating position as we work towards a resumption of negotiations,' Sullivan said.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived in Rome in the early morning hours Friday
Chinense President Xi Jinping will participate G20 via video link after American criticism he wasn't attending
Donald Trump nixed the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting international sanctions against its economy, in 2018 - a move that angered European allies.
The JCOPA agreement will also be a topic of conversations.
'Those will be the two main elements of the meeting,' Sullivan said. 'Fundamentally centering around a shared strategy and solidarity and unity in our approach, which of course will be a study in contrast with the previous administration since Iran was one of the areas of most profound divergence between the previous administration and the Europeans.'
Sullivan conceded he didn't know if Iran was ready to return to the negotiating table.
'It's not entirely clear to me yet whether the Iranians are prepared to return to talks,' he said. 'We have heard positive signals that they are, but I think we have to wait and see when and whether they actually show up at the negotiating table. And we're prepared to negotiate in good faith for a return to mutual compliance with the JCPOA. We hope they are as well.'
Meanwhile China's President Xi Jinping will participate in the G20, according to a notice from China's foreign ministry on Friday.
He will make a speech at the gathering of the leaders of the world's largest economies.
Xi has not left China since early 2020, citing the COVID pandemic.
Relations between Washington and Beijing remain strained as the U.S. wants to deepen its relationship with Taiwan, the self-ruled island that has become a major point of conflict in the two countries' relationship.
In her first public news conference, Sandra Oudkirk, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy, said the United States remains deeply committed to Taiwan and is actively working on new areas of cooperation such as in cybersecurity and supply chains.
'The value of our partnership and our support for
