Biden talked to a foreign leader for the first time since he took office, who said he was disappointed.
January 23rd – U.S. President Biden called Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau, which was the first time Biden had called a foreign leader since he took office.
The two sides agreed to meet in February and reached a consensus on expanding cooperation in the fight against the epidemic, but Trudeau expressed disappointment at Biden’s withdrawal of the license for the “Astrous XL” oil pipeline project in the United States and Canada.
According to Reuters, the Prime Minister’s Office of Canada issued a statement saying that during the call, the leaders of the United States and Canada agreed to work together to fight the epidemic and plan to meet next month (February).
The two sides discussed cooperation on the coronavirus vaccine, agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of defense and Arctic affairs, and arranged for the heads of the military and diplomatic departments of the two countries to meet as soon as possible.
The statement also mentioned that Trudeau expressed disappointment at Biden’s withdrawal of permission for the “Astrous XL” project.
Canadian media CBC News quoted Canadian officials as saying that Biden admitted the difficulties caused by the decision to Canada’s disappointment, but still defended himself, saying that the move fulfilled its campaign promise.
It is understood that the “Agxin Stone XL” project, launched by the Canadian Pipeline Company in 2010, lays oil pipelines between the United States and Canada.
This has been controversial in the United States, and Democratic lawmakers and environmental organizations believe that this may pollute groundwater along the way and cause more greenhouse gas emissions.
The project was rejected by then President Obama in 2015 and then restarted by then President Trump in 2017.
Canadian-related industries are expected to lose more than 1,000 jobs after Biden revoked project permits, which is very heavy.
The Governor of Alberta, Canada, recently wrote to Trudeau asking him to take sanctions and retaliate against the United States to compensate Canada for billions of dollars in losses.
But Trudeau did not mention sanctions in his call with Biden, according to sources.
