During British Prime Minister Sunak’s first visit to Washington, he and US President Biden emphasized their countries’ alliance. They also spoke out in favor of long-term support for Ukraine.
At a meeting in Washington, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden reiterated their support for Ukraine and agreed to work even more closely on issues such as the economy, clean energy and new technologies. A new “21st century partnership” is emerging, the two explained after their meeting.
Sunak was the first guest at the White House since taking office in October. Since then, he and Biden have had four face-to-face meetings, but the Washington meeting gave them a chance to engage in more in-depth discussions.
Biden and Sunak want to strengthen alliance
“There is no country closer to us than Great Britain today,” said Biden. Washington and London are determined to build resilient, diversified and secure supply chains together and reduce strategic dependencies, the White House said after the Biden-Sunak meeting. They want to take a leading role in “future technologies” and ensure “that new technologies work for our democracies and our security and not against them,” it said.
In addition, it would be about strengthening the alliance between the two countries in the areas of defence, health security and space travel. “Countries like China and Russia are willing to manipulate and exploit our openness, steal our intellectual property, use technology for authoritarian purposes or deprive important resources like energy,” Sunak said at the joint press conference. But they won’t be able to do that.
Biden also stressed his confidence in London for leadership in regulating artificial intelligence. In view of the rapid development in the field, Great Britain is planning an international summit, which Sunak also discussed at the meeting with Biden.
Long-term support for Ukraine
On the subject of military support for Ukraine in the fight against Russia, Biden and Sunak reiterated their long-term support for Kiev. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin believes the alliance will tire and give up, Sunak said. “But that’s not the case (…) We’re not going anywhere.” You will be there for Ukraine as long as it is necessary. Biden said they are also looking to long-term support to “deter future aggression.”
There may also have been talks at the meeting about the successor to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. Sunak wants British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace in the post. When asked if the time had come for a British NATO chief, Biden said: “Time will tell”. This requires consensus within NATO.