‘Our relationship is rock solid,’ Biden tells British PM Sunak

LONDON - United States President Joe Biden met British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on a flying visit to London on Monday as part of a three-nation trip, as both readied to join a Nato summit where Ukraine is expected to push to join the alliance once its war with Russia is over.

The 80-year-old US leader stepped out of his presidential limousine “The Beast” and was greeted with a handshake by Mr Sunak on the steps of Downing Street.

The meeting comes just over a month after the pair met in the White House, with Britain eager to maintain that the so-called “special relationship” is as strong as ever.

Mr Biden said the two countries’ ties were “rock solid”, as he entered Downing Street.

Signs of strained ties have been seen, however, notably in Mr Biden’s attitude towards Britain wrangling with the European Union over post-Brexit trade in Northern Ireland.

Mr Sunak, struggling to reset the British government after the turbulent tenures of his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, also wants Britain to be part of future moves to regulate new artificial intelligence technology.

As the Nato summit loomed, there have also been signs of divergence over Washington’s provision of cluster munitions to Ukraine, and concern echoed by other Western allies. The artillery shells release dozens of bomblets that cause destruction over wide areas and unexploded ordnance can pose hazards for decades.

Mr Biden said the decision to send the weapons was “very difficult” but Ukrainian forces conducting a counter-offensive against invading Russian troops were “running out of ammunition”.

The move raised concerns from rights groups due to the danger unexploded bomblets pose to the civilian population.

Mr Sunak did not directly criticise the US but reiterated that Britain was one of 120 signatories to an international accord banning the use and supply of cluster munitions.

“We will continue to do our part to support Ukraine against Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion,” he said.

White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday played down any rift between the two leaders and in Nato, saying Mr Biden and Mr Sunak were “on the same page strategically on Ukraine”.

After his meeting with Mr Sunak, Mr Biden travelled to Windsor Castle to meet King Charles for tea and climate change talks.

It was the US President’s first meeting with the British monarch since he was officially crowned king in May. Mr Biden did not attend the coronation but was represented by his wife, First Lady Jill Biden. The couple had been at the state funeral of Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth, in September 2022.

After Britain, Mr Biden will travel on to Vilnius, Lithuania, on Monday night and hold talks with Nato leaders there on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mr Biden and the Nato allies aim to show support for Ukraine and give Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky a sense of what will have to be done to gain Nato membership sometime in the future.

In a CNN interview previewing his trip, Mr Biden urged caution for now on Ukraine’s drive to join Nato, saying the alliance could get drawn into the war with Russia due to Nato’s mutual defence pact.

“I don’t think there is unanimity in Nato about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the Nato family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Mr Biden said.

But on Monday, a Western official told AFP the allies “are set” to drop the Membership Action Plan (MAP) required for Ukraine’s application to join the alliance.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the move – which Moscow said would have serious consequences for European security – would shorten Kyiv’s path to Nato membership, even though Ukraine must still undertake reforms before joining.

“Nato allies have reached consensus on removing MAP from Ukraine’s path to membership,” Mr Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

Mr Zelensky has said an invitation for Ukraine to join Nato would send a message that the Western defence alliance is not afraid of Moscow.

Ukraine should get clear security guarantees while it is not in Nato, and Mr Zelensky said that would be one of his goals in Vilnius, in an interview broadcast on Sunday.

“I’ll be there and I’ll be doing whatever I can in order to, so to speak, expedite that solution, to have an agreement with our partners,” Mr Zelensky said on ABC’s This Week.

Separately on Sunday, Mr Zelensky also voiced hope for the “best possible result” from the Nato summit, where Kyiv is hoping for a clear signal that it could one day join the alliance.

After meeting his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda, Mr Zelensky said the two discussed the summit and agreed to “work together to get the best possible result for Ukraine”.

Mr Zelensky has said he does not expect Ukraine to actually join Nato until after the war, but he hopes the summit will give a “clear signal” on the intention to bring Ukraine into the alliance.

The Nato membership of Sweden, whose accession to the alliance has been blocked by both Hungary and Turkey, will be part of the agenda in Vilnius. New members must be approved by a unanimous vote of all existing Nato members.

Poland is one of Ukraine’s biggest supporters within Nato and has said it wants “security guarantees” for the country from other Nato members.

Mr Biden discussed Sweden’s Nato bid on a call with Mr Erdogan, and “conveyed his desire to welcome Sweden into Nato as soon as possible”, the White House said in a statement on Sunday.

On Monday, Mr Erdogan said he told Mr Biden that Turkey would back Sweden’s candidacy if the European Union resumed long-stalled membership talks with Ankara.

Mr Erdogan had previously voiced frustrations with what he called Sweden’s failure to do more to contain supporters of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which it considers a terrorist group and who continue to hold demonstrations in Sweden.

‘Confident’ alliance

A centrepiece of Mr Biden’s visit to Lithuania will be a speech he will deliver at Vilnius University on Wednesday night.

Mr Sullivan told reporters the speech will cover Mr Biden’s vision of “a strong, confident America flanked by strong, confident allies and partners taking on the significant challenges of our time, from Russia’s aggression in Ukraine to the climate crisis”.

One of Mr Biden’s objectives is to show Americans back home the importance of continuing support for Ukraine as he faces re-election. Some of his Republican rivals in the race for the November 2024 presidential election have voiced doubts about his strategy.

A solid majority of Americans support providing weaponry to Ukraine to help it defend itself against Russia and believe that such aid demonstrates to China and other US rivals a will to protect US interests and allies, according to a Reuters/Ipsos survey late in June.

Some Democratic lawmakers on Sunday raised concerns about Mr Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine.

Mr Sullivan told reporters on Sunday that Ukraine said in written assurances that it would not use cluster bombs in Russia or in populated areas.

Mr Biden’s last stop will be Helsinki, where he will attend talks with the leaders of newest Nato member Finland, and a summit of US and Nordic leaders. AFP, REUTERS