Biden to meet with Colombian President to discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden and Colombian President Iván Duque will meet at the White House next Thursday in what will be the first official meeting between the two leaders, administration spokeswoman Jen Psaki confirmed Wednesday.

The meeting will offer both leaders the opportunity to "celebrate 200 years of positive diplomatic relations" between the United States and Colombia, and "deepen their strategic partnership," Psaki said in a statement.

Biden and Duque will discuss "a range of regional and global issues of mutual interest, including Russia's unprovoked and unwarranted military invasion of Ukraine," "the promotion of democracy, security and prosperity on the continent," "regional responses to migration," and the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.

The Casa de Nariño, seat of the Colombian Executive, highlighted that the meeting of both presidents, "at such a challenging moment for humanity,” is “a step forward to reaffirm the historic relations between both nations and ratifies that Colombia is the United States’ primary ally in the region.”

Biden and Duque spoke briefly during the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow last November, but have not had an official meeting until now, although the Colombian president visited Washington in September and October 2021.

At the UN General Assembly session on Tuesday, Duque noted that Colombia will support all sanctions taken against Russia after the military invasion of Ukraine.

"An extraordinary assembly of the United Nations is being held and we are in the mood to accompany the sanctions and all the decisions taken in the spirit of multilateralism," he said.

In a speech at the UN extraordinary session, Colombian Vice President and Foreign Minister Marta Lucia Ramirez asked the body to consider “the disarmament of the states possess nuclear weapons.”

Con 141 votos a favor, entre ellos el de 🇨🇴, fue aprobada la resolución que deplora la agresión cometida por #Rusia contra #Ucrania. Este es un respaldo absoluto a soberanía y libre determinación de este país, y un rechazo a violación del #DerechoInternacional. pic.twitter.com/aeH24L5sQi

— Marta Lucía Ramírez (@mluciaramirez) March 2, 2022

Duque's high official also denounced the human rights violations being committed by Vladimir Putin's government against the Ukrainian population.