US President Joe Biden arrived in Britain late Sunday at the start of a short three-country visit during which he will meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and discuss climate change issues with King Charles at Windsor Castle on Monday ahead of the upcoming NATO summit.
The White House said the visit was intended to “continue to strengthen the close relationship between our two countries.”
Biden’s plane landed at Stansted Airport in north-east London, and he will visit the seat of government in Downing Street on Monday, where he will meet with Sunak, their fifth meeting in five months.
According to Sunak’s spokesman, the talks will likely include the upcoming NATO summit and Ukraine.
“As we face new and unprecedented challenges to our physical and economic security, our alliances are more important than ever,” Sunak said in a statement issued by his office on Saturday.
We are the most important trading, defense and diplomatic partner of the United States, and we are at the forefront of countries providing Ukraine with the support it needs on the battlefield,” said Sunak, who studied at Stanford University in California and owns a home in Santa Monica. .
Sunak went a long way in repairing relations with Washington after their cooldown during the rule of his predecessors Boris Johnson and Les Trass due to their tough stance in an agreement related to relations between Britain and the European Union after London’s exit from the bloc and Johnson’s close relations with former US President Donald Trump.
For Biden, the highlight of the trip will be his meeting with King Charles at Windsor Castle, west of London, where the late King’s mother, Queen Elizabeth, hosted former US presidents Barack Obama in 2016 and Trump in 2018.
Biden met Queen Elizabeth at Windsor Castle in 2021.
The president and king are due to discuss climate issues, a topic that Charles, 74, has attached great importance to for more than five decades.
Speaking to the BBC, US special envoy for climate John Kerry said he had been invited to brief the king and Biden on a climate finance conference he and British Energy Secretary Grant Shapps are scheduled to host on Monday.
After the meeting, Biden and Sunak will leave Britain for Lithuania, where they will join the rest of the NATO leaders at the NATO summit.
Biden will then travel to Helsinki to meet the leaders of northern European countries.
Source: Follow-up