US President Joe Biden suggested the possibility of participating in the "Group of Seven" summit in Hiroshima, which will be held next week, "virtually", depending on the resolution of domestic issues, in particular the progress of his negotiations with the leaders of Congress on the national debt ceiling, writes UNN with reference to Kyodo News.
US President Joe Biden, responding to a question about the possibility of postponing his trip to Japan for the G7 meeting due to the deadlock on the issue of raising or suspending the national debt limit, told reporters that there would be no delay, but he could "do it virtually or not go".
Biden's comments came a day after talks with congressional leaders failed to resolve the issue of the US national debt. After the talks, the US president said he was "still committed" to meeting in western Japan, "but it's clear that this is the most important issue on the agenda," referring to the debt issue.
He also said on Tuesday that canceling his trip to the three-day G7 summit of leading industrial nations on May 19 was "possible but unlikely".
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned last week that the government could run out of money as early as June 1 if Congress does not act "as soon as possible" to raise or suspend the $31.4 trillion national debt limit.
After Hiroshima, Biden is scheduled to visit Papua New Guinea, which will be the first visit by a sitting US president to the Pacific nation, as well as Australia.
In Sydney on May 24, the leaders of Australia, India, Japan and the United States will hold a summit of the so-called "Quarter", where it is expected that the main issue on the agenda will be the discussion of how to counter China's growing military and economic influence.
"The president is the president ... wherever he is, wherever he travels," White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force One.
She made the announcement after stressing that Biden said he was "committed" to going to the Hiroshima summit of major industrial nations despite the impasse and that preventing the first-ever default of the federal government was a "constitutional duty and obligation by Congress".
On Friday, Biden is scheduled to hold another round of talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other congressional leaders.
According to Japanese Deputy Minister of Finance for Foreign Affairs Masato Kanda, the finance ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) will invite their counterpart from Ukraine to participate in a session devoted to the global economy.
