Biden, Brazil's Lula meet at UN General Assembly

By Firdevs Bulut Kartal

TORONTO (AA) - US President Joe Biden met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday on the sidelines of the 78th UN General Assembly in New York, where they discussed multilateral issues and partnerships, according to a statement by the White House.

"The two leaders discussed the launch of the Partnership for Workers’ Rights, the first joint U.S.-Brazil global initiative to advance the rights of working people around the world, including how our two countries will continue to work closely together to successfully implement it and ways to elevate labor priorities in multilateral forums," the statement said.

Biden and Lula also underscored the significance of the restoration of democracy in Venezuela, while Biden reiterated the US's support for the people of Venezuela and outlined his country's vision where concrete actions toward restoring Venezuelan democracy, leading to free and fair elections, are met by corresponding sanctions relief by the US.

The two leaders reiterated their commitment to cooperation on climate change and discussed the humanitarian and security crisis in Haiti.

Biden also urged Lula to support "a Multinational Security Support mission to Haiti."

He also expressed concern about the global impacts of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, specifically on food and energy security, while voicing support for Russia's return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.