US President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House on June 8. AFP
US President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House on June 8. AFP
US President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House on June 8. AFP
US President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House on June 8. AFP

Biden to meet King Charles and Rishi Sunak on UK visit


Jihan Abdalla
  • English
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US President Joe Biden will meet King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak later this month, the White House said on Sunday.

The White House said Mr Biden's UK trip, beginning on July 9, is aimed at strengthening “the close relationship between our nations”.

It comes several weeks after Mr Sunak visited Washington, where he met Mr Biden at the White House.

The two leaders have already met a handful of times since Mr Sunak took office in October.

Mr Sunak pushed for closer economic ties between the US and UK and the two leaders reiterated their commitment to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion.

The two leaders announced the so-called Atlantic Declaration, which includes easing trade barriers and closer defence industry ties while relying more on artificial intelligence, clean energy and critical minerals.

During his two-day visit, Mr Sunak also met with US business leaders and members of Congress.

After his trip to London, Mr Biden is scheduled to travel to Vilnius, Lithuania to attend the 74th Nato Summit, followed by a visit to Helsinki, Finland on July 13 for a US-Nordic Leaders Summit.

The White House is preparing to welcome Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Washington next week to discuss the nation's bid to join Nato.

Sweden asked to join the alliance last year, but its membership bid was blocked by Turkey and Hungary.

Top Turkish and Swedish diplomats are expected to meet on Thursday in Brussels for more talks on Stockholm's push to join Nato.

But the chances of a change of heart on Turkey's part are dwindling after the Scandinavian country allowed a protest during which a Quran was burnt in public for the second time this year. Turkish and Arab officials strongly denounced the decision.

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
What sanctions would be reimposed?

Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:

  • An arms embargo
  • A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
  • A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
  • A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
  • Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Updated: July 02, 2023, 6:04 PM