US President Joe Biden answers questions during a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Snack in the White House East Room in Washington, DC, June 8, 2023.
Drew Angerer | Getty Images
US President Joe Biden will arrive briefly in the UK on Sunday, during which time he will meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and discuss climate change issues with King Charles ahead of the upcoming NATO summit. .
The White House said the visit was aimed at “further strengthening the close relationship between the two countries.”
The president is scheduled to visit Downing Street on Monday for a low-key meeting with Mr. Sunak, the fifth in recent months, when the two agreed in Washington on the “Atlantic Declaration,” an initiative in advanced technology and the clean sector. It’s been just over a month since they agreed to work together. Energy and important minerals.
A Sunak spokesman said talks would likely include an upcoming NATO summit and Ukraine.
“Our alliance is more important than ever as we face new and unprecedented challenges to our physical and economic security,” Sunak said in a statement released by his office on Saturday. there is,” he said.
“The UK is a major European NATO ally and the United States’ most important trade, defense and diplomatic partner, and is at the forefront of providing Ukraine with the support it needs to succeed on the battlefield,” Sunak said. said. He holds a PhD from Stanford University in California and owns a penthouse apartment in Santa Monica.
After relations cooled under his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, citing a tough stance on a post-Brexit deal with the EU and Johnson’s close ties to Donald Trump, Mr. Snack has played some role in mending relations with Mr. Biden.
For Biden, the more eye-catching part of the trip will be his meeting with King Charles at Windsor Castle, west of London. The King’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth, hosted Barack Obama in 2016 and Trump in 2018 at the castle.
The president and the king will discuss climate issues, an issue Prince Charles, 74, has campaigned for and spoken out for more than 50 years.
When the two met at the COP26 UN climate change summit in Scotland two years ago, Biden praised Charles’ leadership on the issue, saying, “We really need you.”
“It is very kind of you to say that,” Charles replied.
After the meeting, Mr Biden and Mr Sunak will leave the UK and travel to Lithuania, where NATO leaders are gathering for an important summit. Biden will then travel to Helsinki to meet with Nordic leaders.
