US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman and the European External Action Service Secretary General, Stefano Sannino, met in Brussels on Wednesday to reaffirm the strength of the EU-US partnership on foreign policy and security issues.

The meeting comes as the Biden administration seeks to reassure European allies after the transatlantic relationship took a battering under former president Donald Trump.

During the meeting, Ms Sherman and Mr Sannino discussed mutual foreign policy concerns such as Russia, Ukraine and Belarus as well as the recent violence in Israel and Gaza.

Mr Sannino and Mr Sherman also held the first high-level meeting of the EU-US dialogue on China, in which they acknowledged that relations with China “are multifaceted and comprise elements of co-operation, competition, and systemic rivalry” and “highlighted issues of shared concern”.

“They also discussed pursuing constructive engagement with China on issues such as climate change and non-proliferation, and on certain regional issues,” the State Department said.

Ms Sherman’s trip comes before US President planned to visitBrussels in June.

This week, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken embarked on a tour of the Middle East  to shore up a ceasefire that ended 11 days of fighting in Israel and Palestine.