Joe Biden to meet King Charles III, PM Sunak during July visit to UK
03 Jul 2023 04:04pm
US President Joe Biden has scheduled a trip to Europe with stops in the United Kingdom, the NATO summit in Lithuania, and meetings in Finland, the White House said - AFP
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A visit to the UK had long been expected and comes after Sunak visited Washington last month for talks with the US president.
Downing Street said that the visit reflected the "strong relationship” between the UK and US, after the White House confirmed the trip.
"President Biden is scheduled to travel to the United Kingdom, Lithuania, and Finland from July 9-13.
"President Biden will first travel to London, United Kingdom for engagements with King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to further strengthen the close relationship between our nations,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
Buckingham Palace confirmed that the king will meet Biden at Windsor Castle on July 10.
A spokeswoman for Sunak's office at No 10 Downing Street in London said: "The prime minister looks forward to welcoming President Biden to the UK later this month.
"This reflects the strong relationship between the UK and US, building on a series of bilateral visits and meetings earlier this year.”
Biden made a brief trip to Northern Ireland earlier this year to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, meeting the British prime minister for brief talks in Belfast.
The White House said that after visiting the UK, Biden would "then travel to Vilnius, Lithuania from July 11- 12 to attend the 74th NATO summit.”
"On July 13, President Biden will visit Helsinki, Finland for a US-Nordic Leaders Summit.”
The apparently short trip by Biden comes after the US and the UK announced a new partnership, the "Atlantic Declaration,” to bolster economic security.
Announced during Sunak’s visit to the White House, it included commitments on easing trade barriers, closer defence industry ties and a data protection deal.
While both sides used that Washington visit to hail the strength of US-UK ties, Biden has not been afraid of occasionally criticising London.
Biden in May claimed that he visited the island of Ireland earlier this year to ensure the "Brits didn’t screw around,” amid ongoing US concern about the impact of Brexit on the peace process.
During that visit, the president told the Irish parliament that he believed the UK should be working more closely with the administration in Dublin to support Northern Ireland.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden travelled to London for the funeral of the late queen last September.
The US president did not attend the king’s coronation, with his wife attending instead.
Sunak will also be attending the NATO summit in Vilnius, which is seen as a crunch summit at which a compromise on Ukraine’s demand for membership of the alliance is expected to be hammered out - BERNAMA
