Debt crisis: Joe Biden forced to cut short major tour of Oceania

He will be back sooner than expected. Joe Biden will return to the White House on Sunday after the G7 summit in Japan to devote himself to tough discussions on public debt, refraining from visiting Australia and Papua New Guinea, the White House said Tuesday. The US president will return to Washington to meet with the Republican opposition and "ensure that Congress takes action by the deadline to avoid a default", which would be unprecedented, said the spokeswoman for the US executive, Karine Jean-Pierre, in a statement.

Biden informed Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the postponement of his visit and formally invited him to the White House, she said. Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape was also briefed.

Joe Biden still intends to travel to Japan on Wednesday for the G7 summit where he will meet with the leaders of the Quad, the alliance formed by the United States, Japan, Australia and India, said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, at a press briefing. The US president has been engaged for several months in intense diplomatic activity with the leaders of the Asia-Pacific region, in order to strengthen American alliances in the face of the rise of China.

Biden 'optimistic'

Republicans and Democrats must absolutely agree that Congress will allow the US federal government to take on more debt, otherwise it will no longer be able to pay civil servants, pay pensions and benefits, or repay its creditors, perhaps as early as June 1. At the risk of derailing the US and global economy, warns the White House.

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The US president met Tuesday with the four leaders of his party and the Republican Party in Congress to try to find an agreement. If he said he was "optimistic" after a meeting "frank and productive", the Republican boss of the House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy assured him that there was still "a lot of work to do in a short time" to find common ground. Biden will speak again this week by phone with top congressional officials, before meeting them in person after returning Sunday from a trip to Japan.