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A 10 Downing Street spokesman said the pair discussed “providing the support Ukraine needs to win this war and secure a just and lasting peace,” while the White House said they “reaffirmed their steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s ongoing aggression.”
While the war in Ukraine, slogging through its second year, was expected to dominate — and potentially frustrate — Biden’s trip to Europe, his 18-hour visit to Britain was largely marked by a sense of unity, tradition and camaraderie.
Sharing smiles and surrounded by flowers in the garden at the prime minister’s residence, Biden and Sunak discussed a broader array of topics on which the two countries could reaffirm their “special relationship,” including the environment, energy supplies, artificial intelligence, critical minerals and developments in Northern Ireland. Biden then traveled to Windsor Castle to meet with the new king.
It was Biden’s first meeting with King Charles III since his coronation, and aides said the two men used the time to discuss something on which they largely agree: the need to boost private-sector investment in combating climate change.
American officials billed the stopover in Britain as a kind of “mini state visit.” But the emphasis appeared to be on the “mini” side. Britain and especially the monarchy are famous for doing big pomp, like the king’s over-the-top coronation in May. But the Biden audience out at Windsor Castle was littler pomp. There was no banquet. But there was a tea.
White House officials have sought to project a sense of unity around Biden’s five-day trip to Europe, which after London will include meetings at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and a confab with Nordic leaders in Finland.
“Couldn’t be meeting with a closer friend and a greater ally,” Biden said during brief remarks Monday while sitting next to Sunak. “We’re doing well, and I think we’re moving away in a way that is positive. But our relationship is rock-solid.”
Phrases like “rock solid” have a welcome sound to the British establishment, which basks in the “special relationship” it shares with America.
Even as U.S. allies have increasingly broken with Biden on issues related to Ukraine in recent days, the president has made unifying NATO and the broader Western world a key component of his reelection pitch. His meetings this week threaten to expose major rifts in the coalition of countries that has spent much of the past 500 days pushing back against Russia’s aggression in Ukraine. Washington and London have faced some turbulence in their relationship recently, given London’s withdrawal from the European Union, a rapid turnover of British prime minsters and the death of Queen Elizabeth II, a popular figure in the United States. But Biden’s election following the chaos of the Trump era, along with the two countries’ cooperation on Ukraine, have restored some stability to their relations.
Still, the two countries, largely aligned on global issues and each keen to tout their “special relationship,” are also working through some of the differences in their approaches to Kyiv.
Sunak said the two countries “stand as two of the firmest allies” in NATO and told Biden they would “do everything we can to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security.”
One area where they disagree, however, is over Ukraine’s NATO membership. Britain and other NATO allies have been forward-leaning in their commentary about Ukraine’s desire to join the alliance. Sunak said recently that Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in NATO.
But a few days after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told CNN that the United States should invite his country into NATO “now,” Biden appeared on the same network to rebuff the request.
“I don’t think it’s ready for membership in NATO,” Biden said in an interview that aired Sunday on “Fareed Zakaria GPS.” He added that beyond resolving the war with Russia, Ukraine needed to take additional steps to become eligible.
“NATO is a process that takes some time to meet all the qualifications … from democratization to a whole range of other issues,” Biden said.
That caution is being met with frustration — even fury — among NATO nations that think standing still on Ukraine’s membership gives Russia an invitation to keep fighting as long as possible.
“This is not okay. This is existential for us,” said a senior NATO diplomat who is involved in the negotiations, adding that some nations were ready to go to the mat inside the usually staid leaders’ meeting, where time is more often filled with prepared speeches than sharp debate. But others said NATO does not grant membership to countries experiencing occupation by a foreign power, let alone full-scale invasion, since the alliance’s collective defense agreement would require it to jump into the hostilities. Biden landed in Vilnius on Monday evening even as the heated preparatory talks continued.
The diplomat, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the ongoing closed-door talks, said the Ukrainians were holding out hope that the word “invitation” to join NATO be included in the summit’s final declaration. The United States and Germany are the main countries resisting, the diplomat said, taking turns as the lead voice of caution.
Biden has pitched what’s been dubbed an “Israel option,” which would commit to give Ukraine a military edge going forward. But that approach has not yet been embraced across the alliance.
“This strategy is the coward’s way out; this is about saying to Ukrainians, ‘You should be fighting and dying for democracy; we are not willing to do so,’” said Benjamin Tallis, a research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, which advocates for extending the U.K.-led Joint Expeditionary Force, which includes nine NATO members, to incorporate Ukraine.
The U.K. is also one of several countries that has publicly opposed the Biden administration’s recent decision to provide Ukraine’s military with cluster munitions, weapons that are banned by most countries in the world. On Saturday, Sunak told reporters that Britain opposed the use of cluster munitions, noting that it is a “signatory to a convention which prohibits the production or use of cluster munitions and discourages their use.”
Several leaders who will be at the Vilnius summit have also opposed the decision on cluster munitions. Spain and Canada, for example, have condemned their use in recent days.
The weapons are controversial because they can leave unexploded submunitions on the ground long after a conflict, posing a danger to civilians.
Biden told CNN he had to be convinced that authorizing their use was the right move. “It was a very difficult decision on my part,” he said.
After meeting with Sunak at 10 Downing Street, Biden traveled to Windsor Castle for his visit with Charles. Buckingham Palace, which has hosted past U.S. presidents, is undergoing renovations.
Some royal commentators in the tabloids maintained that feathers were ruffled when Biden did not join other world leaders at the coronation in May, sending instead first lady Jill Biden.
Experts pointed out at the time that the president’s attendance was optional — and that President Dwight D. Eisenhower did not attend the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. Charles welcomed Biden in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle, where he was saluted by the Welsh Guards. The military band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” and “God Save the King.”
The king is a lifelong environmentalist who was early to warn of the coming dangers of global warming. The president has made mitigating climate change a enterpiece of his administration.
After their one-on-one meeting, the two men met with business executives and investors about private-sector support for green technologies to combat climate change.
Among those who met with Biden and Charles were Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Lloyd’s of London CEO Jordan Neal and NatWest Group CEO Alison Rose. U.S. special climate envoy John F. Kerry also attended.
Biden, 80, and Charles, 74, have each spent a lifetime waiting for top job and both face constituencies that are skeptical about their age and relevance.
Both have also had their relationships with their sons put under the microscope. Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, left service as senior working royals to live in California. In a self-produced documentary series, an interview with Oprah and Harry’s best-selling memoir, the couple have made a business out of discussing royal family dysfunction.
The president’s son Hunter Biden has attracted attention for his struggle with addiction and his business dealings in China and Ukraine.
Michael Birnbaum in Vilnius, Lithuania and Loveday Morris in Berlin contributed to this report.
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