The Prime Minister welcomed the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to Downing Street on the morning of the 10th of July. The leaders discussed progress made since they announced the Atlantic Declaration, a first-of-its-kind framework for the economic partnership between the UK and the US, last month.
The US leader arrived in the UK ahead of a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) summit in Lithuania. Biden, who was received by King Charles III at Windsor Castle later, hailed the UK-US relationship as “rock solid” ahead of his discussions with Sunak.
Since the Prime Minister and President Biden’s last meeting in the White House, we have begun work on a UK-US Critical Minerals Agreement and the Joint Action Group on Energy Security has met to begin work on strengthening our clean energy supply chains.
The Prime Minister and President Biden agreed to hold the first high-level meeting between Number 10 and White House representatives in October to drive progress under the Atlantic Declaration.
The Prime Minister also updated on the UK’s AI Summit which will be held this autumn and welcomed the President’s strong support for the initiative.
Looking ahead to this week’s NATO Summit, the Prime Minister and President Biden agreed on the need to strengthen the alliance and maintain UK’s support for Ukraine. They discussed the progress of the counter-offensive and emphasised the importance of the country’s international partners committing to its long-term defence, providing the support Ukraine needs to win this war and secure a just and lasting peace.
Sunak told Biden Britain was a signatory to an international convention that discourages the use of cluster munitions, and it was up to each country to make their own decision about how the weapons are used, the spokesperson said.
“We stand by our obligations under the convention, which include discouraging their use. There is no change from us on that, obviously, it is for each country to make a decision,” the spokesperson told reporters.
“PM Sunak and Biden also discussed the broader geopolitical context, including in the Indo-Pacific and with regard to Iran,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.
It marked the first time Biden has visited Downing Street as the US President and his sixth meeting with Sunak since he became Prime Minister in October last tear. “We stand as two of the firmest allies in that alliance and I know we’ll want to do everything we can to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security,” said Sunak.
On broader NATO issues, they agreed on the need to ensure that Sweden has a swift path to full NATO accession. The Prime Minister and President Biden also discussed the broader geopolitical context, including in the Indo-Pacific and with regard to Iran.
The leaders agreed on the importance of their friendship and of continuing the close dialogue they have had in the few months.
The King meets President Biden at Windsor Castle
The King met the President of the United States of America at Windsor Castle on Monday 10th July. His Majesty received President Biden at the dais in the Quadrangle of Windsor Castle. Upon the President’s arrival, a Guard of Honour formed by The Prince of Wales’s Company of the Welsh Guards gave a Royal Salute, and the US National Anthem was played by the Band of the Welsh Guards.
The President, accompanied by The King, then inspected the Guard of Honour, before returning to the dais to watch the military march past.
The President joined The King for tea in Windsor Castle, following which His Majesty invited the President to view an exhibition in the White Drawing Room of items from the Royal Collection relating to the United States of America.
In the Green Drawing Room, The King and the President joined the participants of the Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum, which took place earlier in the day. The Forum brought together finance and philanthropic leaders from the United Kingdom and the United States of America to strengthen their commitments to climate action within emerging markets and developing economies. The King and the President were briefed on the conclusions of the discussions.
The King has previously met President Biden at the G7 Leaders Summit in Cornwall in June 2021, and at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021. President Biden, accompanied by the First Lady, attended the Heads of State Reception at Buckingham Palace on the eve of the State Funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, before attending the Service at Westminster Abbey on 19th September 2022.
The King first met a serving US President when President Eisenhower visited Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Balmoral Castle in 1959.
