US President Joe Biden and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy will meet tomorrow, Monday, to discuss raising the debt limit after a “productive” phone call today.

McCarthy spoke to Biden as he was returning to the US from Japan, where he was scheduled to attend the G7 summit. Speaking to reporters, he said the talks were “positive” and that their staff would meet today to continue talks.

Biden has previously said he is willing to combine spending cuts with tax cuts to reach an agreement, but called the latest Republican proposal to raise the debt limit “unacceptable.”

Before leaving Hiroshima, Joe Biden hinted that the Republicans would like to freeze payments so that its disastrous consequences would make it harder for him to get re-elected in the 2024 presidential election.

McCarthy, however, told reporters things were better now, but reiterated to Biden that spending should be cut. “My position has not changed, Washington cannot continue to spend money that we do not have,” McCarthy wrote on Twitter, specifying, however, that he advocates an increase in defense spending.

Source: APE-MPE, Reuters, AFP.