U.S. Vice President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a conference

PALO ALTO, Calif. U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday tried to limit the fallout from Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, which threatens to harm the U.S. economic recovery, derail his trade agenda and create rifts among America’s Western allies.

Obama said he was sure Britain’s exit from the EU would be orderly and vowed that Washington would maintain both its “special relationship” with London and close ties to Brussels.

“While the UK’s relationship with the EU will change, one thing that will not change is the special relationship that exists between our two nations. That will endure,” he told an event at Stanford University, referring to close ally Britain. “The EU will remain one of our indispensable partners,” Obama said.

He spoke to outgoing British Prime Minister David Cameron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel after Thursday’s stunning referendum result, the biggest blow to the European project of greater unity since World War Two.

“I’m confident that the UK is committed to an orderly transition out of the EU,” said Obama. He vowed that the United States and Britain would “stay focussed on ensuring economic growth and financial stability.”

The Brexit result rattled Wall Street and many other financial markets, with global stock markets losing about $2 trillion in value on Friday.

Obama, during a visit to London in April, had warned against Brexit, or Britain’s exit from the EU, in an unusually strong intervention into British politics.

“I must say we had looked for a different outcome. We would have preferred a different outcome,” U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, travelling in Ireland, said on Friday.

The historic divorce launched by the Brexit vote could sink hopes of a massive U.S.-EU free trade deal before Obama leaves office in January.

Source From : firstpost.com