Liz Truss and Joe Biden agree to protect peace in Northern Ireland
Eva Deschamps / September 7, 2022
British Prime Minister Liz Truss and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed on the importance of protecting peace in Northern Ireland in their first phone conversation, Downing Street announced Tuesday.
At the head of British diplomacy, Liz Truss had introduced a law reversing customs provisions as part of the post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland, at the risk of launching a trade war with Brussels.
Ms. Truss, who succeeds Boris Johnson, told Mr. Biden that she was also looking forward to working closely with Washington to address common challenges, a Downing Street spokeswoman said.
These include the extreme economic problems triggered by Russian President Putin's war, she added according to a transcript of their conversation.
The meeting comes amid U.S. concerns that Truss' year as foreign secretary has seen post-Brexit tensions emerge in Northern Ireland and alter the U.K.'s ties with Brussels, Dublin and Washington.
Mr. Biden, who has Irish roots, has been critical of Britain's Brexit policy under Boris Johnson, with whom he has had what is considered a tepid relationship.
Biden warned before his election in 2020 that if the Brexit altered the 1998 Good Friday Agreement - which ended 30 years of violence in Northern Ireland - he would not agree to a U.K.-U.S. trade deal.
A trade agreement between London and Washington is currently considered a distant prospect.
However, defense ties between the two transatlantic allies have strengthened in recent years, with a new partnership involving Australia - called AUKUS - agreed last year.
In their Tuesday phone call, Truss and Biden agreed to strengthen these ties, including by expanding our deep defense alliance through NATO and AUKUS.
The leaders reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening global freedom, tackling the risks posed by autocracies and ensuring that Putin fails in Ukraine, the Downing Street spokeswoman added.