United States President Joe Biden will be meeting with Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni at the White House on Friday to discuss new laws to help Ukraine. Biden is also facing challenges from House Republicans and other problems in his own country.
Biden told European leaders that the U.S will support them. Ukraine’s leader still needs to get approval for extra money from the US. The aid package includes $60 billion for Ukraine, $35 billion for Israel, and Taiwan. The new law was approved by the Senate, but the Speaker of the House, who is a Republican named Mike Johnson, doesn’t want to bring it up for a vote.
Prior to Meloni’s visit, the White House officials said they don’t have good answers for friends about ending the disagreement with House Republicans and giving aid to Kyiv. This aid is really important because Ukraine is trying to defend itself from Russia’s invasion.
However, White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton said it’s clear that this is affecting not only our country’s safety, but also the safety of our friends in other countries.
Biden and other important politicians asked Johnson to approve the foreign aid package, but Johnson said Congress needs to focus on helping America first.
Biden and Meloni are meeting for the second time in about seven months, on Friday. Both leaders are dealing with fighting in the Middle East and Europe and trying to improve their popularity with the public.
Biden is getting ready to face Donald Trump again in November. Trump is expected to be the Republican candidate. Biden wants to be president again, but some people worry he is too old at 81. Some Democrats are also upset with how he dealt with the Israel-Hamas war, and not everyone is happy with how the American economy is doing.
Surveys show that Meloni’s right-wing Brothers of Italy Party got a lot of votes in 2022 and is still very popular in Italy, but its support has gone down in the past year. Her group had a problem this week because the person she supported in the Sardinia regional elections didn’t win.
Meloni will see if people still like her in four more local elections and the election for European parliament in June 2024.
Gianluca Pastori, an expert at the ISPI think tank in Milan, said that Meloni and Biden are both having problems for different reasons. This meeting can show the public that there is a strong relationship with allies that are seen as important.
Meloni went to Kyiv last week to lead a meeting with the Group of Seven leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The meeting was held on the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion. The leaders of Belgium, Canada, and the EU Commission went to Kyiv with Meloni. Biden and other leaders joined them through a video call. In January, Italy started leading the G7 group for one year.
During her recent visit to Kyiv, Meloni confirmed that Italy will continue to support Ukraine and signed a agreement to help Ukraine with security and military assistance until the end of the year. Italy is also dedicated to helping Ukraine rebuild old buildings and structures.
The Biden administration was worried when Meloni became the leader of Italy’s first far-right government since World War II ended. However, both of them agree on supporting Ukraine. When Meloni visited Washington in July, Biden praised her and Italy for their support to Kyiv.
The leaders planned to discuss how the U. S, Egypt, and Qatar are trying to make Israel and Hamas stop fighting, Italy’s plans for leading the G7, people coming to Italy from North Africa, and how their countries deal with China.
Biden said earlier this week that he thinks a cease-fire deal could be made by next week. But he said that a potential agreement might have been delayed because Israeli soldiers shot at a big group of Palestinians who were trying to get food from a delivery of aid in Gaza City. More than 100 people died.
Meloni was very upset and worried about the incident.
“It is very important for Israel to understand what is happening and who is to blame,” Meloni said. She also called for more talks to stop the fighting and to free the hostages.
Meloni is going to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Saturday.