The White House said Wednesday that President Biden would not apologize for America’s use of the nuclear bomb to end World War II during his visit to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial this weekend. -end as part of the meetings in Japan of the Group of Seven industrialized countries.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Mr Biden would participate in a wreath laying at the site.
“The president will not be making a statement at the Peace Memorial Park,” he told reporters on Air Force One. “It’s him as one of the G-7 leaders coming to pay their respects.”
President Barack Obama was the first sitting president to visit the Hiroshima site. He visited the site, gave a speech and met with bombing survivors in May 2016. He did not issue a formal apology.
Mr Biden is visiting Japan for a series of meetings with world leaders to discuss the war in Ukraine, deterrence of Chinese aggression and global issues such as clean energy.
Mr Biden has decided to scrap visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia after the G-7, citing the need for talks in Washington on raising the US government’s debt ceiling from $31.4 trillion. of dollars.
Sullivan said while those countries might be disappointed, their leaders know the United States has their backs.
He cited Mr Biden’s engagement with the Pacific Islands and a major security deal in which the United States agreed to supply nuclear submarines to Australia.