Biden pledges to reassert U.S. leadership in global diplomacy and welcome talks with Iran

By Anne Gearan,

President Biden delivered a stark warning to global leaders and policymakers on Friday that “democratic progress is under assault” in many parts of the world, including the United States and Europe.

“Our partnerships have endured and grown through the years because they are rooted in the richness of our shared democratic values,” Biden said during remarks by video to the Munich Security Conference.

“They’re not transactional. They’re not extractive. They’re built on a vision of the future where every voice matters. Where the rights of all are protected and the rule of law is upheld. None of us has fully succeeded in achieving this vision. And in too many places, including in Europe and the United States, democratic progress is under assault.”

The speech came on a day when Biden is delivering his most extensive remarks on foreign policy as president and inviting Iran to begin face-to-face diplomacy. Earlier Friday, the president addressed leaders of the Group of Seven in a virtual meeting.

Underscoring the message that the United States is recommitting to traditional alliances, Biden appeared on screen alongside German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.

“America is back. The transatlantic alliance is back,” Biden said.

Previewing the speeches, an aide said that Biden would make the case at both events that democracies are best equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century.

In his Munich Security Conference remarks, the president described the current moment as an “inflection point” in the debate over the merits of democratic vs. autocratic governance.

“I believe with every ounce of my being that democracy must prevail,” Biden said, a reference both to the rise of authoritarianism globally over the past several years and to the cracks in American democracy demonstrated by the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol in Washington.

“We must demonstrate that democracies can still deliver for our people. That is our galvanizing mission. Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it. Strengthen it. Renew it. We have to prove that our model isn’t a relic of our history. It’s the single best way to realize the promise of our future.”

The Biden administration opened the door to talks Thursday, saying it would accept an invitation to join the other members of the 2015 agreement for talks about how both the United States and Iran could return to its fold.

[U.S. says it would sit down for talks with Iran]

Biden’s public embrace of that idea Friday does not commit the United States to a timeline for returning to the agreement, which Iran began violating after the U.S. withdrawal, but it lends heft to an effort with European allies to draw Iran to the table. It is also meant to help persuade Iran not to make matters worse by expelling international inspectors next week.

After focusing chiefly on domestic priorities in his first month in office, including the coronavirus pandemic and U.S. economic woes, Biden is

recommitting to tenets of international diplomacy that President Donald Trump had abandoned, a senior administration official said Thursday.

“The president is eager to reinforce his commitment to returning the United States to multilateral engagement and in particular to engaging with the major democracies and market economies of the world on a common agenda,” said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview Biden’s remarks.

At the closed-door G-7 session, Biden planned to focus on the immediate crises of the pandemic, its global economic impact and on climate change, the official said. Friday marks the official U.S. return to the Paris climate accord after Trump’s withdrawal.

Biden will be bullish about global investment to confront and recover from the pandemic, the official said.

“He will communicate to the leaders the same thing he has communicated to the Congress and to the American people — that the fear is not that we do too much; it’s that we do too little,” the official said.

A joint statement from the G-7 leaders Friday reinforced a collective commitment to that approach.

“Drawing on our strengths and values as democratic, open economies and societies, we will work together and with others to make 2021 a turning point for multilateralism and to shape a recovery that promotes the health and prosperity of our people and planet,” the statement said.

[White House announces $4 billion in funding for Covax, the global vaccine effort that Trump spurned]

The White House announced Thursday that it will commit $2 billion for the global vaccine initiative known as Covax at the G-7 meeting, and will pledge another $2 billion over the next two years.

The G-7 leaders are expected to meet in person in Britain in June. Biden intends to be there, the official said. It may be his first foreign trip as president. The White House has not announced any other international travel. It is expected to be months before Biden hosts any foreign leaders at the White House.

Trump refused to sign a joint statement after a tense G-7 meeting in Canada in 2018; the group papered over differences with a short statement at the meeting the following year, in France. The 2020 in-person gathering was canceled because of the pandemic. Trump had at one time planned to hold it at one of his Florida golf resorts.

Biden has not yet dismantled tariffs and other trade barriers with China and Europe that Trump had imposed over objections from G-7 members.

[Biden administration takes more cooperative approach to its first high-level NATO meeting]

Biden made a point of stressing unity with European allies on several issues that caused rifts under Trump, including the importance of the NATO alliance, U.S. troop deployments in Germany, climate change and diplomacy with Iran.

His message was a repudiation of the rise of semi-authoritarian leaders in Europe, including in Hungary, Poland and Turkey. It was also a firm repudiation of Trump and the nationalism that propelled him to office in the United States.

European and Asian allies have welcomed Biden’s pledge to cooperate after Trump’s go-it-alone approach and occasional outright hostility to traditional allies. But, especially in Europe, leaders also have sought ways to rely less on the United States. Those leaders eye a potential return to isolationism under the next president, and were horrified by the ease with which Trump summoned a mob that attacked the Capitol in his name.

“The president will indicate his very strong view that the United States has a deep set of enduring strengths that transcend what we have seen over the past four years,” the official said.

“He actually believes very deeply that it is never a good bet to bet against the United States and that many of the things we saw over the last four years do not reflect what this country is all about, and that with the right set of investments and the right spirit of leadership we can set the United States on a sustainable path,” the official said.

[Call between Biden and China’s Xi portends rocky road in post-Trump era]

Biden also laid out complaints about Russian and Chinese behavior. Competition with China is inevitable, but need not be a new Cold War, he said. Russia remains intent on undermining Western democracy and must not be allowed to succeed, he said.

Iran’s ability to obtain nuclear weapons is among the most closely watched issues facing Biden as he undoes Trump policies and installs his own. As a candidate, he pledged a conditional return to the 2015 international agreement limiting Iran’s nuclear activities but did not say how he would do that.

As president, Biden has said that Iran must make the first move by ending its uranium enrichment activities that violate the agreement. Iran has said it is up to Washington to make the first move by dropping sanctions Trump had reimposed.

It is not clear whether Iran wants to renew talks.

A proposed meeting of the signatories would be a first step toward compliance by both nations but would not necessarily resolve the question of whether Iran must act first.

The meeting, proposed by the European Union, also would include Russia, China, France, Germany and Britain and would amount to a repudiation of the Trump administration’s efforts to isolate the Islamic republic.

“We look forward to engaging in diplomacy. We are keen to sit down and hear what the Iranians have to say. We want to come up with a solution to the Iranian nuclear program and let’s get to work,” the official said.

Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.

Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.