Biden Meets With Australian and Iraqi Leaders
President Biden on Tuesday met with Prime Minister Scott Morrison of Australia and President Barham Salih of Iraq on the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York, following a speech in which he said the U.S. was scaling back military operations in favor of “relentless diplomacy.”
The president’s meeting with Morrison comes amid fierce blowback from France to a defense pact announced last week between the U.S., U.K and Australia to counter China.
“We have a big agenda to discuss today, starting with our partnership to advance our commitment for a free and open Indo-Pacific. This conversation I’m going to continue with Japan, Korea and India on Friday,” Biden said before his meeting with Morrison, referring to the Quad Leaders Summit with Australia and the other three countries.