Biden delays White House meetings with foreign leaders

A spokesperson for US President Joe Biden has said that it will be a "couple of months" before he has his first in-person meeting with a foreign leader at the White House.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was responding to a question about a readout of a call between President Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, which took place on 22 January.

According to Mr Trudeau's office, the two leaders agreed "to meet next month".

Ms Psaki suggested that such a meeting could take place virtually.

"I would anticipate for all of you that it will be a couple of months before the president invites a foreign leader to meet in-person here at the White House," Ms Psaki said at her daily press briefing.

On Friday, Mr Biden is expected to take part in two virtual events.

He will participate in a G7 meeting on Covid-19 and deliver remarks on transatlantic ties at an event hosted by the Munich Security Conference.

Last week, it was confirmed that the Taoiseach Micheál Martin would not be travelling to Washington to meet Mr Biden at the White House next month for the traditional St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Instead, the event will take place virtually, with officials in Ireland and the US currently working out how best to mark the day.

Over the weekend, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney spoke by phone and noted that Covid-19 restrictions meant that the traditional visit to the US could not be in-person this year.