The White House said it was a “warm” 90-minute meeting in which Biden “thanked His Holiness for his advocacy for the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict, and persecution” and “lauded Pope Francis’ leadership in fighting the climate crisis” and his advocacy for vaccine sharing and “an equitable global economic recovery.”
Biden also met with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi before his highly-anticipated meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
This is the first in-person meeting between the leaders since the U.S-Australia submarine caused diplomatic tensions between the two allies.
In a joint statement, the two leaders said they would “share a commitment to systematic and in-depth consultation and coordination to ensure transparency.”
Biden’s meetings come ahead of back-to-back summits - first the G20 in Rome and then COP26 in Glasgow.
The U.N.Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said G20 leaders must do more to address climate change ahead of the COP26 summit and “re-establish trust” with the rest of the world.
The live updates for this blog have ended.
“I had a great meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron this afternoon,” Biden said in a tweet following his meeting with Macron in Rome. “The United States has no older, no more loyal, no more decent ally than France. They’ve been with us from the beginning — and we will always be there for them.
Biden also thanked Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi for his leadership and his “achievement of a global minimum tax and the commitment to rapidly decarbonize how we produce electricity.”
The two leaders met to “reaffirm their commitment to closer bilateral and transatlantic cooperation in the pursuit of peace, security, and prosperity around the globe,” the statement said.
Their meeting focused on “creating the conditions for ensuring confidence” that underscores their historic relationship and shared democratic values.
After the apparent miscommunication over their dealings in the Into-Pacific, the two nations said they “share a commitment to systematic and in-depth consultation and coordination to ensure transparency” bilaterally and between NATO and European Union partners.
The two leaders said they “recognize the importance of robust collaboration” in the region “amid growing economic and strategic challenges there. The U.S. welcomed France as a partner and “key contributor and security provider to a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
“The United States also welcomes the E.U. strategy on the Indo-Pacific and intends to continue robust consultations on its own strategy,” the statement said.
France, the President of the E.U., said it “will keep the United States closely informed of its priorities.”
The two allies also committed to ending the COVID-19 pandemic, maintaining collective defense, pushing for global economic recovery, combating terrorism and addressing climate change and the launching of the “US-France Bilateral Clean Energy Partnership” by the end of the year.
“There is a serious risk that Glasgow will not deliver,” he said. “I think we are still on time to put things on track, and I think this G20 meeting is the opportunity to do that.”
Guterres called on G20 nations to overcome “dangerous levels of mistrust” to avoid a “climate catastrophe” as well as narrow an “immoral gap” on global vaccine distribution.
“We see dangerous levels of mistrust among the big powers,” Guterres said Friday. “The most important objective of this G20 summit must be to re-establish trust — by tackling the main sources of mistrust — rooted in injustices, inequalities and geopolitical divisions,” he said.
Since the U.K. left the European Union in January, there have been rising tensions between London and Paris. France said it would block British ships from its ports and tighten checks on vessels unless the U.K. grants fishing licenses to French fishermen.
When asked what he would say to President Macron when they meet in Rome, Johnson called Macron “a friend” and said that “the ties that unite us, that bind us together, are far stronger than the turbulence that currently exist in the relationship.”
“And what I will also say is that there may be people on either side of the Channel that they think they have an interest in promoting disharmony between the U.K. and France and creating the impression of disharmony,” he added. “I don’t think Emmanuel [Macron] shares that perspective.”
Biden said her meeting with French First Lady Brigitte Macron at Il Marchese restaurant was “wonderful.”
“It’s nice, two friends together, just like sisters,” she said.
Biden added that the two have “come here so many times.”
“I love Italy, Brigitte loves Italy. Who would not love Italy? There’s nothing that we couldn’t love about it right?” she said.
Biden thanked Draghi for his leadership during the G20 summit, his efforts toward decarbonization and his support during the withdrawal from Afghanistan, which included housing over 4,000 Afghans en route to the United States last August, according to a readout from the White House.
The leaders also discussed security challenges in the Mediterranean Sea and reaffirmed their NATO bond and the U.S.-European Union partnership.
“We’ll continue to work together on the main international issues — climate change, the digital sector, health — which will be on the agenda of the G20 and we’ll also upgrade our discussions on the arms control, which remains a key issue,” he said.
Macron said discussing joint initiatives and actions on these matters “is very much the beginning of the process of trust of confidence, which we’re building together,” Macron said.
“For me, what’s important is that we build during these past weeks some very concrete actions in order to strengthen the partnership, with the help and clarification between what the European defense means and the how that’s completely compatible with NATO,” he added.
“I think what happened was to use an English phrase, what we did was clumsy,” Biden said when asked if the relationship between the two allies was repaired.
“It was not done with a lot of grace,” Biden added
While sitting across from Macron at the French Embassy in Italy, Biden said he was “under the impression France had been informed before” the deal took place and reiterated that France “is an extremely valuable partner.”
“We just talked about the fact he was happy I was a good Catholic and keep receiving communion,” Biden said.
This comes as the U.S. Conference of Bishops moved forward with a plan to allow bishops to deny communion to politicians who support abortion rights.
Pope Francis has spoken out against this plan, saying bishops should hold a “pastoral” position rather than a political one.
“If we look at the history of the church, we will see that every time the bishops have not managed a problem as pastors, they have taken a political stance on a political problem,” he told reporters during a trip to Hungary and Slovakia in September.
“What must the pastor do? Be a pastor, don’t go condemning. Be a pastor, because he is a pastor also for the excommunicated,” the Pope added.
This will be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders since the U.S-Australia submarine caused diplomatic tensions between the two allies.
Macron and Biden had a 30-minute phone call after the deal. They decided to “open a process of in-depth consultations, aimed at creating the conditions for ensuring confidence and proposing concrete measures toward common objectives,” according to a joint statement.
Macron met France’s ambassador to the U.S. Philippe Etienne, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire at the French Embassy in Rome Friday.
Biden has just arrived at his meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi ahead of the G20 summit.
Biden and the Pope met for 90 minutes, according to the White House, while the Vatican reported the leaders met for 75 minutes.
This meeting was longer than the Pope’s meeting with Former President Donald Trump. That 2017 meeting lasted 30 minutes.
Former President Barrack Obama met with the Pope for 52 minutes back in 2014.
“I know my son would want me to give this to you,” Biden said.
Biden also called Pope Francis “the most significant warrior for peace that I have ever known” and joked that “the tradition is…next time I see you [and] you don’t have it, you have to buy the drinks”
The Bidens gifted the Pope with an embroidered vestment used by the Society of Jesus in the US, according to CNN’s Delia Gallagher.
According to a readout from the White House, Biden “thanked His Holiness for his advocacy for the world’s poor and those suffering from hunger, conflict, and persecution.”
Biden also “lauded Pope Francis’ leadership in fighting the climate crisis” and his advocacy for COVID-19 vaccine sharing and “an equitable global economic recovery.”
The White House described the one-on-one meeting as “warm,” and said “there was laughter and clear rapport between President Biden and the Pope,” per CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
This meeting was almost twice as long as Biden’s meeting with Pope John Paul II in 1980.
Macron accused the U.S. of selfishness after the deal, saying “Americans first focus on themselves” after they struck a deal with the U.K. to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia - scrapping an existing multi-billion agreement with France.
Boris Johnson has an additional, more pressing, challenge with the French leader after a British fishing vessel was seized at a French port in the latest dispute over post-Brexit fishing rights.
Its biggest players include the U.S., U.K., China, Russia, France, Germany, and the European Union. Other members are Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Turkey.
Spain, Brunei, the Netherlands, Singapore, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are all guests at this year’s summit.
He will then spend the rest of the morning holding meetings with various world leaders ahead of the summit, including French President Emmanuel Macron, before preparing for a weekend of discussions about climate change, international relations, and other major world issues.
Though the Vatican said it would give edited footage of the meeting to accredited media, the move is the latest limit on media coverage of the Holy See.
FULL STORY: Vatican Offers No Explanation for Canceling Live Feed of Biden Meeting With Pope Francis
The meeting will still be going ahead at 12pm local time (6am ET/5am CT/4am MT/3am PT).
From the airport, the pair flew directly to Rome Fiumicino International Airport and landed in the early hours of this morning, where they were greeted by a diplomat and were escorted to their accommodation by a protection team.
Biden professes to use his faith as a moral guidepost to shape social and economic policy, wears a rosary, and frequently attends Mass. Jen Psaki said she was confident the pair would get on well.
Follow Newsweek’s liveblog throughout Friday for all the latest.
