Biden Begins Europe Trip by Meeting Sunak and King Charles

LONDON—President Biden is kicking off his four-day swing through Europe with meetings Monday with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles III, marking the president’s first in-person discussions with the monarch since his coronation.

After arriving in London late Sunday night, the president traveled to 10 Downing Street for a brief huddle with Sunak, which came on the heels of the prime minister’s June visit to the White House. “Our relationship is rock solid,” Biden said in brief remarks to reporters, sitting beside Sunak.

On Monday afternoon, the president met with Charles at Windsor Castle. Following their one-on-one conversation, the president and the king met with a group of investors and philanthropists to discuss climate change, one of the king’s priorities.

The war in Ukraine was a major topic of discussion during the president’s meeting with the prime minister and will be a theme throughout the rest of the trip, which includes a stop in Lithuania for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization annual summit. Britain is one of the U.S.’s top military allies, leading the way on providing military assistance to Ukraine.

However, Sunak has indicated the U.K. won’t be following the U.S. in providing cluster munitions, which strew small bomblets over a wide area, to Ukraine. 

“The U.K. is a signatory to a convention which prohibits the production and use of cluster munitions, and discourages their use,” Sunak said Saturday. 

During the meeting, the two leaders discussed the progress of Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian forces occupying parts of the country. A spokesman for the prime minister said they “emphasized the importance of the country’s international partners committing to its long-term defense, providing the support Ukraine needs to win this war and secure a just and lasting peace.”

They also agreed on the need to ensure that Sweden can quickly join NATO, according to the spokesman.

In their sixth meeting over the past six months, Biden and Sunak discussed U.S.-U.K. efforts to expand economic cooperation, American and British officials said. The two leaders last month signed a joint declaration that called for increased collaboration in areas such as energy and supply chains.

Sunak said the two leaders would consider “how do we strengthen our cooperation, joint economic security to the benefit of our citizens.”

Sunak is the third British prime minister that Biden has worked with since taking office during a tumultuous political moment in the U.K. The U.S.-U.K. relationship has been strained at times, particularly over Brexit and the impact on the Good Friday Agreement, the U.S.-brokered deal that ended decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. 

Biden has known Charles for years and met with him several times before he became king. The U.S. president didn’t attend the king’s May coronation but sent first lady Jill Biden to the event on his behalf.

The president is scheduled to depart for Lithuania on Monday night for the NATO summit. NATO countries are still debating how they will address Ukraine’s push for quick entry into the alliance, an issue that has divided member countries. Biden has said Kyiv isn’t ready to join NATO and has warned that moving too quickly would compel members to defend Ukraine against Russia’s ongoing assault.

NATO countries are expected to use the summit to underscore their support for Ukraine and pledge to continue providing aid as Kyiv presses on with its counteroffensive. 

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden said in an interview with CNN on Sunday. “NATO is a process that takes some time to meet all the qualifications, from democratization to a whole range of other issues.”

On Wednesday, Biden will travel to Finland, where he will meet with Nordic leaders. Long a symbol of neutrality, Finland joined NATO earlier this year, in what Western officials have touted as evidence that the war in Ukraine has galvanized opposition to Russia.

Biden plans to use the trip to showcase what his advisers call the unprecedented unity among U.S. allies in response to the war. But there are simmering disagreements within NATO, including over whether Sweden should be granted membership to the group, a proposition that Turkey and Hungary oppose. 

The U.S. president said he believed Sweden would eventually succeed in gaining NATO membership.

“I’m hopeful,” he said on CNN. “Matter of fact, I’m optimistic.”

Biden spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone on Sunday, and the two leaders agreed to meet in person in Vilnius, Lithuania. Following the call, Turkey signaled its continued concerns about Sweden joining NATO.

Write to Andrew Restuccia at [email protected] and Paul Hannon at [email protected]