US President Joe Biden landed in Britain on Sunday. (File)
London:
President Joe Biden arrived in Britain on Sunday, where he will meet with King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before moving on to Vilnius for a NATO summit, then a final stop in new NATO member Finland.
Air Force One landed at Stansted Airport north of London late in the evening, an AFP journalist reported.
On Monday, he will meet the British monarch for the first time since the coronation of Charles III at Windsor Castle, one of the royal residences.
The US president did not attend the ceremony and sent First Lady Jill Biden instead.
Their talks are expected to focus on environmental issues, the White House said.
President Biden will also meet Prime Minister Sunak at 10 Downing Street.
The biggest part of Joe Biden’s Europe trip will be Tuesday and Wednesday’s NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, where Western allies will discuss how to help Ukraine oust Russian occupation forces.
Ukraine is pushing for entry into the military alliance, but President Biden said in an interview with CNN broadcast on Sunday that this cannot happen until the war is over.
If Ukraine enters now, that would mean NATO is at war with Russia, Joe Biden said.
Under Article 5, NATO is committed to defending any member under attack. “It’s a commitment we’ve all made, come what may. If the war continues, we’re all at war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case,” said President Biden.
Joe Biden hopes to use the summit to pressure Turkey to drop its opposition to Sweden’s near-approved NATO membership bid. Participation requires unanimous consent of all members.
In a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, Joe Biden “expressed his desire to welcome Sweden to NATO as soon as possible,” according to the White House.
The two leaders “expressed their shared commitment to continuing to support Ukraine,” the statement said.
President Erdogan’s office separately said he would meet President Biden on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.
The talks will focus on “Ukraine’s position in NATO, Sweden’s NATO membership and the supply of F-16” fighter jets, which Turkey hopes to secure from the United States, the Turkish presidency said.
Ukraine and NATO
In the interview with CNN, Joe Biden had said he was considering supplying Turkey and Greece with new or upgraded US-made fighter jets as a lure for Turkey to admit Sweden into NATO.
“And so what I’m honestly trying to put together is a little bit of a consortium here where we’re strengthening NATO in terms of the military capability of both Greece and Turkey and allowing Sweden to come in,” Joe Biden said .
“But it’s in the game. It’s not done yet.”
However, President Erdogan’s office said it was “not correct” to link Turkey’s desire to acquire the fighter jets, which require congressional approval, to Sweden’s membership.
While in Vilnius, Joe Biden will also deliver an important foreign policy speech at the city’s university.
His trip comes in the wake of a controversial decision to supply Ukraine with cluster munitions, which most NATO member states have banned but which the United States still has in its arsenal and is said to help Ukraine beat heavily entrenched Russian forces. to destroy.
Joe Biden’s last stop before returning to Washington on Thursday will be Finland, which ended its historic neutrality to join NATO in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine.
President Biden will be the first US president to visit Helsinki since Donald Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin five years ago.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is being published from a syndicated feed.)