MS. PSAKI: Hi, everyone. Okay. Today, joining us — needs hardly an introduction — our National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, who will be previewing the President’s trip — second foreign trip — later this week. And he’ll take some questions afterwards, and then I will do a full briefing — or as long as you guys would like to do a briefing — after that.
With that, I’ll turn it over to Jake.
MR. SULLIVAN: Thank you, Jen. And hi, everybody. It’s good to be here. As you all know, the President is leaving for Europe on Thursday. He’ll first head to Rome for the G20 and then to Glasgow for COP26, the international climate conference.
In Rome, he’ll start on Friday with a meeting with Pope Francis, followed by a bilateral program with our Italian hosts, including meetings with the Italian President and Italian Prime Minister Draghi. He’ll also meet with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday.
On Saturday and Sunday, he’ll attend the key G20 events. There’ll be several sessions covering the main elements of the international economy and international affairs. And while he’s there in Rome, he’ll also have the opportunity on the margins to engage with key leaders on a range of issues of importance to the American people, including supply chain resilience, energy prices, the Iranian nuclear program, and more.
In Glasgow, the President will give a major address on climate as part of COP26 and also have the opportunity to engage on the margins there on a range of important issues, including the Build Back Better World initiative — B3W — that the G7 announced at the summit in June.
Lots to say about the trip and happy to take your questions. I just want to make three broad points before we open it up:
The first is: After a lot of commentary in recent weeks about the state of the transatlantic relationship, the United States and Europe head into these two summits aligned and united on the major elements of the global agenda.
In just the past few weeks, we’ve seen the U.S. and the EU come together for joint action on COVID-19. We’ve seen the U.S. and EU launch a global methane pledge and other key climate initiatives. The U.S. and EU have launched a Trade and Technology Council to set the rules and standards for economics and technology in the 21st century. And President Biden and key European partners will sit down at these two summits to coordinate policies on Iran, on supply chains, on global infrastructure efforts, and so much else.
I would point out that neither China nor Russia will be attending the summit in person at the leader level — largely, it seems, due to COVID-19. The U.S. and Europe will be there, and they’ll be there energized and united at both the G20 and COP26, driving the agenda, shaping the agenda as it relates to these significant international issues.
Second, the trip is going to give the President an opportunity to advance some of his highest affirmative priorities on behalf of the American people.
