President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico has decided to wait until legal challenges are concluded before congratulating Joe Biden, president-elect of the United States.

According to Obrador on Saturday, the decision is an apparent bid to avoid friction with Washington during the transition.

This comes after President Donald Trump refused to concede the election, filing multiple lawsuits to challenge Biden who secured 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

“We don’t want to be imprudent. We don’t want to act lightly and we want to respect people’s self-determination and rights,” Obrador told reporters.

“We have a very good relationship with the two candidates. President Trump has been very respectful with us and we have reached very good agreements, and we thank him because he has not interfered and has respected us. And the same goes for Biden.”

Mexico is the United States’ top trade partner, with over $600 billion of annual two-way commerce, and the bilateral relationship with its northern neighbour is by far the most important for Mexico.