Wednesday 21 September 2022 07:29 PM Biden faces off with Liz Truss over Northern Ireland trends now
President Joe Biden on Wednesday reassured British Prime Minister Liz Truss that the United Kingdom is America's 'closest ally' as he prepared to pressure her to ensure the sanctity of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
'You're our closest ally in the world and there's a lot we can do, continue to do, together,' Biden told her as the two leaders met in New York City on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The two spoke on the life and funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, the war in the Ukraine and the energy wooes in Britain.
But the main topic of tension between them is Northern Ireland. The White House made clear Biden would confront Truss on the issue in their first leader-to-leader sit down. Biden wants the agreement protected as the U.K. deals issues related to the post-Brexit trade fallout.
'We both are committed to protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland,' the president said. 'And I look forward to hearing what's on your mind and how we can continue to cooperate.'
Truss noted: 'I'm looking forward to discussing the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and how we make sure that's upheld into the future.'
President Joe Biden reassured British Prime Minister Liz Truss that the United Kingdom is America's 'closest ally' as he prepared to pressure her on N. Ireland
Biden and Truss met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly - their first formal sitdown as leaders
Biden, who is proud of his Irish heritage, strongly opposed Brexit and has expressed huge concern over the future of Northern Ireland, its trade and the deal signed in 1998 that set the peace protocols in stone and ended 30 years of sectarian violence.
On Tuesday, before their sitdown, the White House said Biden would make his views clear when he met with Truss.
'The President will communicate his strong view that the Good Friday Agreement, which is the touchstone peace and stability in Northern Ireland, must be protected,' National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said at the White House press briefing in response to a question from DailyMail.com.
Biden will encourage all parties to work together to ensure peace protocols and decades-old friction will not resurface.
Truss is pushing ahead with her controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, that the European Union and other critics say will breach international law by suspending elements of the agreement.
Northern Ireland is likely to be the most tense part of Biden's and Truss' conversation, which will take place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.
The meeting is already set to be tense after Truss clashed with Biden over economic policy and said a US-UK trade deal could take years.
Topics will also include the situation in the Ukraine - the UK has been one of America's staunchest allies - trade, the economy and the energy crisis.
'We must collectively take steps - the US, the UK, the parties in Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland - to ensure that it is protected,' Sullivan said of the Good Friday Agreement.
'And in that regard, he will encourage the UK and the European Union to work out an effective outcome that ensures there is no threat to the fundamental principles of the Good Friday Agreement. And he'll speak in some detail with her in depth in that conversation,' he said.
'The President will communicate his strong view that the Good Friday Agreement, which is the touchstone peace and stability in Northern Ireland, must be protected,' National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told DailyMail.com
Truss, in route to New York, kicked off her first visit to America as prime minister with the announcement that a U.K-U.S. free trade deal is not going to happen for years.
Truss said such an agreement simply wasn't a priority.
'There (aren't) currently any negotiations taking place with the U.S., and I don´t have an expectation that those are going to start in the short to medium term,' she told reporters.
Sullivan said it's not surprising as 'free trade agreements take a long time to negotiate.'
He said Biden and Truss will discuss 'the economic relationship between the US and the UK.'
Biden called Truss to congratulate her shortly after she was elected prime minister in early September.
Both leaders attended Queen Elizabeth's funeral in London on Monday but it's unclear if they talked at that event.
The two have met before.
She, in her role of foreign secretary, accompanied then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his visit to the White House last September. She and Biden also talked when he attended
