LONDON, July 8 (Reuters) – US President Joe Biden will arrive in Britain on Sunday for a short visit during which he will meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and discuss climate change issues with the King Charles before the next nato summit.
The White House said the trip was designed “to further strengthen the close relationship between our nations.”
The president will travel to Downing Street on Monday for a low-key meeting with Sunak, his fifth in as many months and just a month after the two agreed in Washington on a “Atlantic Declarationand working together on advanced technologies, clean energy, and critical minerals.
Sunak’s spokesman said their discussions would likely include the upcoming NATO-Ukraine summit.
“As we face new and unprecedented challenges to our physical and economic security, our partnerships are more important than ever,” Sunak said in a statement released by his office on Saturday.
“The UK is Europe’s main ally in NATO, we are America’s most important trade, defense and diplomatic partner, and we are at the forefront of giving Ukraine the support it needs to succeed on the battlefield.” said Sunak, who studied at Stanford University in California and owns a penthouse in Santa Monica.
Sunak has made progress on mending ties with Biden after relations soured with his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss over their tough stance on a post-Brexit deal with the European Union and Johnson’s closer ties to Donald. Trump.
For Biden, the highlight of the trip will be his meeting with King Charles at Windsor Castle, west London, where the monarch’s late mother, Queen Elizabeth, hosted Barack Obama in 2016 and Trump in 2018.
The president and king must discuss climate issues, an issue that Charles, 74, has campaigned on and spoken out on for more than five decades.
When the two men met at the COP26 UN climate summit in Scotland two years ago, Biden praised Charles’ leadership on the issue, telling him: “We need you very much.”
“You’re very kind of saying that,” Charles replied.
After the meeting, Biden and Sunak leave Britain for Lithuania where NATO leaders will meet for a key summit. Biden is then expected to travel to Helsinki for a meeting with the Nordic leaders.
Reporting by Michael Holden Additional reporting by Muvija M Editing by Helen Popper
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