NEW UK PRIME Minister Liz Truss and US President Joe Biden “agreed on the importance of protecting” peace in Northern Ireland, in a phone call today hours after Truss became Britain’s new leader.

Truss told Biden that she also looked forward to “working closely” with Washington “as leaders of free democracies to tackle shared challenges,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said.

They include “the extreme economic problems unleashed by (Russian President) Putin’s war,” she added in a readout of their call.

“The Prime Minister and president discussed a range of domestic issues and agreed on the importance of protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement,” the Downing Street spokesperson said.

It comes amid reported concerns in the United States over Truss, after her one-year tenure as foreign secretary saw post-Brexit tensions in Northern Ireland increase and strain the UK’s ties with Brussels, Dublin and Washington.

In that previous role, Truss spearheaded legislation in Britain’s parliament that would unilaterally override parts of a UK-EU trade pact for Northern Ireland, which the bloc and Irish government vehemently oppose.

Biden, who is fiercely proud of his Irish roots, has been critical of the Brexit policy pursued by Britain under former prime minister Boris Johnson, and was seen to share a lukewarm relationship with the former British leader.

Biden had warned ahead of his 2020 election that if Brexit damaged the 1998 Good Friday Agreement he would not consent to a UK-US trade deal.

A trade agreement between London and Washington is currently seen as a distant prospect.

© – AFP, 2022 additional reporting from Céimin Burke