LONDON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s itinerary this week in Europe is dominated by the ongoing war in Ukraine and his ongoing efforts to rally an international coalition against Russia’s invasion of its neighbor.
But first, some tea.
The US president’s first stop on his three-country trip is Britain, where he will meet King Charles III for the first time since the latter was crowned in May. Biden skipped Charles’ coronation, sending first lady Jill Biden instead, and Monday’s visit will be marked by a bit of royal pomp – including a royal salute, a tour of US-related artifacts – United at Windsor Castle and tea time for the two men.
Biden and Charles will also use their visit to draw attention to climate issues, hosting a forum that will focus on how to encourage private companies to engage in cleaner energy efforts, especially in developing economies.
“The President has immense respect for the King’s commitment to the climate issue in particular, that he has been a clarion voice on this issue and more than that, has been an actor, someone who has mobilized the action and effort,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, told reporters on Air Force One as Biden traveled to London. “So the president is coming to this with enormous goodwill.”
The visit will be combined with what will be the sixth meeting between Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since he took office in October. It’s all meant to highlight the so-called enduring “special relationship” between the US and the UK. When Biden refused to attend Charles’ coronation, he promised the king in a phone call that he would visit soon.
Biden last had official talks with then-prince Charles at the UN’s COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021. The US president also attended the state funeral of the mother of Charles, Queen Elizabeth II, in September as well as a reception for heads of state at Buckingham Palace the day before the service.
Biden’s climate part and the King’s visit on Monday also underscores the high priority the environment has been for Charles, 74, who has long fought to protect wildlife and fight climate change. Officially called the Climate Finance Mobilization Forum, Biden and Charles will be briefed by leaders from the financial and philanthropic sectors on their discussions on expanding clean energy initiatives in developing countries.
Before heading to Windsor Castle, Biden will speak with Sunak in a session the White House says will focus on a range of global issues, but will certainly be dominated by their ongoing efforts to support Ukraine. . The two nations have been among Kiev’s staunchest defenders, and the UK has pushed the White House to take more aggressive steps to provide military aid to Ukraine.
But now it is the Biden administration that has taken steps that 10 Downing Street says go too far, with the US president’s decision this week to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, a weapon that more than two-thirds of the members of the NATO military alliance have. prohibited because of their potential threat to civilian life.
Biden acknowledged that providing the bombs – which open in the air and release smaller “bombettes” over a wide swath of land – was a “difficult decision,” but he noted that the Ukrainians are running out of ammunition and that the weapons were needed to continue their fight against the Russian forces.
“It took me a while to be convinced to do it,” Biden said in an interview with CNN ahead of his trip to Europe. “But the main thing is that they had the weapons to prevent the Russians … from stopping the Ukrainian offensive in these areas, or that they didn’t have them. And I think they needed them.
Sunak, for his part, distanced himself from the US decision to send cluster bombs to Ukraine.
“The UK is a signatory to a convention which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions and discourages their use,” he told broadcasters on Saturday. The United States is not a party to this agreement.
“We will continue to do our part to support Ukraine against Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion, but we have done so by providing heavy battle tanks and, more recently, long-range weapons, and j I hope that all countries can continue to support Ukraine,” Sunak added. .
Sullivan played down the disagreement over cluster munitions, saying “I think you’ll find Prime Minister Sunak and President Biden on the same page strategically on Ukraine, in tune with the bigger picture of what we are trying to accomplish and as united as ever – both in this conflict and at large.
The prime minister’s office said its meeting with Biden on Monday “will provide an opportunity to follow the progress of measures and initiatives under the Atlantic Declaration,” which the two leaders signed during Sunak’s visit to the House. White last month.
“This includes the negotiations which have now begun on a UK-US agreement on critical minerals, which will support shared UK-US leadership in green technologies,” it said. the press release.