WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden welcomes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for wide-ranging talks Thursday as the British leader makes his first visit to the White House as prime minister.
The leaders’ Oval Office talks are expected to cover the war in Ukraine, China, economic security, international cooperation to regulate the growing field of artificial intelligence and more. Biden and Sunak have already had four face-to-face meetings since Sunak became prime minister in October, but the talks in Washington will provide the two leaders with an opportunity for their most sustained interaction yet.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the Russian invasion of Ukraine 15 months ago will be “the biggest thing.” The United States and the United Kingdom are the two largest donors to Ukraine’s war effort and play a central role in a long-term effort announced last month to train and eventually equip Ukrainian pilots in fighter jets F-16.
Rishi is also looking to make a case to Biden for UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to succeed outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who will end his term as head of the 31-member alliance in September. Stoltenberg is scheduled to meet with Biden in Washington on Monday, and the alliance’s leaders will meet in Lithuania on July 11-12 for their annual summit.
“The two leaders will review a range of global issues, including our economic partnership or shared support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s war of aggression, as well as further action to accelerate the transition to clean energy,” said Jean-Pierre. “The President and Prime Minister will also discuss joint US and UK leadership in critical emerging technologies, as well as our work to strengthen our economic security.”
Sunak’s visit comes as British and US intelligence officials are still trying to pin down the blame for the rupture of a major dam in southern Ukraine, which flooded towns and farmland . Neither Washington nor London have officially accused Russia of blowing up the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.
Sunak said on Wednesday that UK intelligence services were still assessing the evidence, but “if it is proven to be intentional, it will represent a new low … appalling barbarity on the part of Russia.”
“Throughout this war, Russia has used as a deliberate active strategy to target civilian infrastructure,” he told Washington’s ITV network.
Both sides hope to demonstrate that the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom remains as strong as ever despite the recent political and economic turmoil in the United Kingdom. Sunak is one of three British prime ministers Biden has dealt with since taking office in 2021, and the administrations have had differences over Brexit and its impact on Northern Ireland.
There were also some awkward moments between the two leads early on.
Biden, at a White House celebration in October to mark the Hindu holiday of Diwali, pointed to the elevation of Sunak, who is Britain’s first leader of color and the first Hindu to serve in the role, as a “innovative milestone”, but wrong. altered the pronunciation of Sunak’s name.
At a March meeting in San Diego with Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to announce plans to sell nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia, Biden jokingly told Sunak “maybe you can invite me over to your house in California” . The sideline cheer resurrected Sunak’s old political background, whose political aspirations were briefly dimmed when he faced an ethics investigation last year after it was discovered he had a US green card two years later of being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. Sunak, a former hedge fund manager with an MBA from Stanford University, and his wife have a home in California.
However, there is a sense in the Biden administration that the US-UK relationship has returned to a more stable footing after the sometimes tumultuous tenure of Boris Johnson and Liz’s 45 days as prime minister Truss
“I think there is a sense of relief to some extent, not just in the White House but across Washington, that the Sunak government has been very pragmatic and has maintained the UK’s firm commitment to Ukraine and to increasing defense spending,” said Max Bergmann. director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He added that with Sunak there has also been “a bit of a return to pragmatism” on economic issues and relations with the European Union after Brexit.
Sunak opened his two-day visit to Washington on Wednesday by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. He met with key congressional leaders, including Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, as well as business leaders. He also attended a Washington Nationals baseball game.
Shortly before leaving for Washington, Sunak announced that a number of US companies were making $17bn (£14bn) in new economic investment in the UK.
The chairs of the Congressional Executive Committee on China, Republican Rep. Chris Smith and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley, wrote to Sunak on Wednesday asking him to work with the Biden administration on Hong Kong policy and push the ‘release of jailed media mogul Jimmy. Lai and other activists.
Lai’s son, Sebastien Lai, last month, in testimony before the US committee, expressed disappointment that Britain had not publicly condemned his father’s arrest and taken a stronger stand in defending the his release The elder Lai founded the now-closed pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily and faces charges under Hong Kong’s security law and a colonial-era sedition law.
“A strong UK government position is critically important, given your oversight of the Sino-British Declaration and the millions of Hong Kongers who hold British citizenship or British (overseas) national passports,” they wrote the legislators “The erosion of Hong Kong’s promised autonomy and the dismantling of a free press and the rule of law are issues of global concern.”
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Associated Press diplomatic writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
