By Andrea Shalal and Angelo Amante
WASHINGTON/ROME (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at the White House on Thursday, with the Ukraine war, trade and Italy's relations with China featuring atop the list of items on the leaders' agenda.
Italy's first woman prime minister came to power last October and is seeking an assertive role abroad as she plans the country's upcoming Italian presidency of the Group of 7 (G7) nations in 2024.
She and her right-wing coalition have staked out positions on abortion and LGBTQ rights sharply at odds with those of Biden, a Democrat who used last year's Italian election results as an occasion to warn fellow liberals about the dangers facing the world's democracies.
"Our relations are strong," Meloni told Biden in the Oval Office. "They cross governments and remain solid regardless of their political colors. We know who our friends in times that are tough."
Meloni also used her first trip to Washington to spend some time on Capitol Hill, where her meetings included a visit with Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who previously has said he could consider an impeachment inquiry into Biden.
Rome and Washington both emphasized the trip as an opportunity to reaffirm a strong partnership between the countries, including over the billions of dollars in military and other aid the West has provided Ukraine in its grinding war against Russia since 2022.
During a small portion of the meeting open to reporters, Biden complimented Italy on its strong stance in Ukraine and Meloni said she was proud that Italy defended international law in supporting Ukraine.
Washington hopes that the West's alliance against Russia's Ukraine invasion will help deter China from changing the status quo in Taiwan and the broader Pacific.
Meloni faces a decision over whether to maintain Italy's membership in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) infrastructure plan, a program that Washington has been working to counter.
Biden said Italy and the United States would only see their mutual trade increase.
"We're talking about our deepening economic connection that has fueled more than $100 billion in trade last year," Biden said during the White House meeting. "In my mind, there's no reason why that can't increase."
Biden's delegation to the Italy meeting included several officials with an economic portfolio, including his commerce secretary, Gina Raimondo.
Italy in 2019 became the first and so far only G7 nation to join China's major infrastructure initiative, with critics saying the partnership would enable China to gain control of sensitive technologies and vital infrastructure.
Italy is seen as highly unlikely to renew the deal with China when it expires in March 2024, and Meloni said in May it was possible to have good relations with Beijing without being part of the pact.
The G7 formally launched an alternative to Belt and Road, the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, last year. The countries said in May at their last leaders' summit in Japan, that they were trying to "reduce excessive dependencies" on other countries but "not decoupling or turning inwards."
The Biden-Meloni meeting takes place less than a week after she hosted an international conference on migration in Rome, as Italy tries to cope with a high volume of migrants arriving by boat from North Africa.
Italy was planning to discuss with the U.S. how to support the development and stability of Africa, Meloni's office said, which will also be among the main topics of Italy's G7 presidency.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal and Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington and Angelo Amante in Rome; Additional reporting by Katharine Jackson; Writing by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Don Durfee and Diane Craft)
