US, Britain, Germany and France agree to ‘revive transatlantic ties’

Name: Biden calls China the ‘most serious competitor’ to the US, in his first foreign policy address
Uploaded: 2021-02-05T23:01:52.000Z
Duration: 3 min 5 s
Description: Biden calls China the ‘most serious competitor’ to the US, in his first foreign policy address

China, Russia, Covid-19 and the troubled Iran nuclear deal were discussed in first in-depth talks between the foreign ministers since Biden took office

Climate change was also on the agenda during the virtual meeting between the European officials and their new US counterpart Antony Blinken

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This was US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s first in-depth discussion with the E3 foreign ministers since President Joe Biden took office. Photo: EPA-EFE

Agence France-Presse

Published: 7:01am, 6 Feb 2021Updated: 9:32pm, 6 Feb 2021

The foreign ministers of Germany, France, Britain and the United States on Friday said they wanted “to revive” the transatlantic relationship, following their first in-depth talks since President Joe Biden took office.

“The foreign ministers agreed that they want to revive the traditionally close transatlantic partnership and tackle global challenges together in future,” the German foreign ministry said in a statement.

“This first, in-depth exchange between the foreign ministers since President Biden’s inauguration was characterised by a trusting and constructive atmosphere.”

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Biden calls China the ‘most serious competitor’ to the US, in his first foreign policy address

According to the statement, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and French Foreign Affairs Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian discussed the Iran nuclear deal, which has been in tatters since former president Donald Trump pulled out of the pact in 2018.

“We just had a in-depth and important conversation on Iran … to handle together nuclear and regional security challenges,” Le Drian said on Twitter.

Biden has said that if Tehran returned to strict compliance with the 2015 nuclear pact, Washington would follow suit and use that as a springboard to a broader agreement that might restrict Iran’s missile development and regional activities.

Tehran has insisted that Washington ease sanctions before it resumed compliance, and ruled out negotiations on wider security issues. But Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif hinted on Monday at a way to resolve the impasse over who goes first by saying the steps could be synchronised.