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US President Joe Biden continued his European tour, arriving in Brussels to meet with EU leaders and Nato.
Turkey, China in firing line as Biden holds summit with Nato allies
bne IntelliNews
Nato leaders designated China as presenting “systemic challenges” in a communiqué issued after a one-day summit in Brussels on June 14, as US President Joe Biden continued his tour through Europe to meet with other Western leaders to put the US back on the map following the lack of engagement during the Trump years.
Biden arrived from the G7 summit in the UK and is due to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on June 16. He is attempting to enter that
meeting with the solid backing of Western nations to bring about an
end to the instability that has marred international relations in recent years.
Biden also had a one-on-one meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for whom Biden's defeat of
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Donald Trump in the US election was
a blow. Erdogan, forced to recognise
the reality that the Oval Office is now occupied by a man who has referred to him as an "autocrat", has been reaching out to Washington in an effort to remake relations between Turkey and the US. Turkey's economy is in a debilitated state, thus Erdogan badly needed a 'win'
Erdogan or Biden after their exchange. The Turkish lira slid 1% against the dollar even as Erdogan, addressing reporters, tried to put a positive spin on the outcome of the head to head.
The summit between Putin and Biden was another item on the agenda during the Brussels summit. Biden said that
“Turkey's economy is in a debilitated state, thus Erdogan badly needed a 'win' from his meeting with Biden to secure a shot in the arm for
Turkish markets"
from his meeting with Biden to secure
a shot in the arm for Turkish markets. But nothing telling was uttered by either
he had overwhelming support from the other western leaders for his early meeting with Putin.