Biden, Mattarella discuss climate, COVID-19, and Afghanistan

President Biden met with President Sergio Mattarella of Italy on Friday to discuss climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and resettling Afghans. 

The president is in Rome for the Group of Twenty (G20) summit over the weekend and met with Pope Francis at the Vatican and Prime Minister Mario Draghi of Italy also on Friday. 

Biden emphasized “the strength of the bilateral relationship and the Transatlantic bond” and thanked Mattarella “for Italy’s leadership of the G20 and for bringing together the world’s largest economies to meet shared challenges, including fighting the climate crisis, ending the pandemic, and strengthening the global recovery,” the White House said.

He thanked Mattarella for providing temporary shelter for over 4,000 Afghans  in August, when U.S. troops pulled out of Afghanistan. According to the White House, those Afghans were “en route to being resettled in the United States.”

“The leaders also discussed joint work to update the global rules for the 21st century economy based on shared democratic values,” the White House said. 

Biden’s meeting with Draghi also involved him affirming the strength of the U.S.-Italy relationship, as well as remarks about the global minimum tax and climate.

“Both leaders recognized the historic achievement of a global minimum tax, building resilience against future pandemics, and the commitment to rapidly decarbonize how we produce electricity,” the White House said. 

During Biden’s meeting with the pope, Francis said that he should keep receiving communion and called Biden a “good Catholic.” The two did not discuss the topic of abortion. That meeting lasted for 90 minutes, and they exchanged gifts, including a presidential challenge coin and handwoven chasuble used by the pope’s Jesuit order.

Biden will participate in the G20 summit on Saturday and Sunday. He will meet with United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and again with Macron on Saturday. On Sunday, he is scheduled to hold a press conference.