Speaking to reporters before departing for San Francisco, Biden said that success for him would mean: “Getting back on a normal path, being consistent and being able to pick up the phone and talk to each other in a crisis, And to be able to do that.” “To be sure, our forces are still in contact with each other.”
White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters aboard Air Force One en route to San Francisco that Biden and Xi would likely discuss the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza, U.S. efforts to support Ukraine in the war against Russia, North Korea, Will talk about missile tests. and other geopolitical issues.
Kirby told reporters Biden “is not going to be afraid of confrontation on some issues where there needs to be confrontation, where we can’t be face to face” but would also seek areas of cooperation such as climate change.
Climate working group announced before talks
Although there are few expectations of high-level agreements or major breakthroughs, observations ahead of the summit suggest that negotiators in Washington and Beijing were looking for areas where they could more easily find common ground – for example the environment. On policy.
The two countries said in a joint statement issued early Wednesday that they would launch a working group on climate action. This follows months of bilateral negotiations behind the scenes.