UK Prime Minister visits US to discuss trade, AI, and Ukraine war

Europe, News, US June 9, 2023 , by IRIA No Comments

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak met with President Joe Biden in the White House on June 8, 2023, on his first visit to the United States since taking office. The two leaders agreed to deepen their collaboration on Artificial Intelligence, expand trade, and enhance cooperation on Ukraine issue.

Sunak arrived in Washington bearing gifts for the U.S. President, including a copy of Biden’s great-great-grandfather Christopher Biden’s book Naval Discipline: Subordination Contrasted with Insubordination. “We will put our values front and center to deliver for the British and American peoples,” Sunak said at the start of his trip.

The 80-year-old U.S. President welcomed the 43-year-old British Prime Minister to the Oval Office with the words “Well, Mr. President”, before catching his mistake and joking “I promoted you there.”

U.S. President Biden posted on his Twitter, “There’s no issue of global consequence where the United States and the United Kingdom aren’t in concert… our nations are stronger because of our common vision and shared values. I look forward to many more years of close cooperation.”

The U.S.-U.K. partnership is strong. pic.twitter.com/mAVLFWQWKx
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 9, 2023

During his time in Washington, Sunak also met with American Business leaders along with members of the U.S. Congress.

“They are indisputably our closest partner when it comes to trade when it comes to defense and security cooperation, diplomatic alliance, and tomorrow I’ll be talking about strengthening that economic cooperation,” Sunak told the reporters as he arrived in the U.S. on June 7.

Sunak visited the U.S. Capitol Hill where he met with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the Senate’s Democratic and Republican leaders, Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell.

Atlantic Declaration

After Sunak’s meeting with Biden, the pair announced a new economic partnership plan called Atlantic Declaration. The plan focuses on cooperation in trade and AI. Having left the European Union, the UK is driving its economic policy closer to Washington to navigate through the volatile situation as it competes with China.

*^{United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak holding talks with President Joe Biden, in Washington D.C., U.S., on June 8, 2023. (Image Credit: Twitter/@RishiSunak)}*

The declaration aims to increase U.S.-UK trade in areas such as defense, nuclear materials, and the critical minerals used in electric-car batteries. Biden termed the declaration as an “economic security” among Western allies. Sunak also announced that the UK would host the world’s first summit on AI later this year, saying Biden had thrown support behind the move.

“My job is to make sure that we as a country are protected and I’m confident actually that we can put the guardrails in place,” Sunak said in an interview during his trip to Washington.

According to the office of the British Prime Minister, more than $17 billion worth of major investment deals were signed with American companies during Sunak’s trip to Washington.

I’m in Washington DC to bang the drum for Britain 🇬🇧🇺🇸

This morning I met with CEOs of America’s leading companies – whose investments create hundreds of thousands of British jobs – to set out why the UK is the best place in the world to do business. pic.twitter.com/aZ3irdyYot
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 8, 2023

Russia-Ukraine war

The U.S. and UK leaders also reaffirmed their commitment to Kyiv for its war against the Russian invasion. The UK became the first country to provide Ukraine with long-range attack missiles. The U.S. and the UK are also making joint efforts in providing training to Ukrainian pilots before deciding to hangover fighter jets in Ukraine.

Before arriving in the U.S., Sunak said that he would try to talk about British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace as a candidate to replace NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, whose term in the job is due to end in October this year. Biden, whose vote could be decisive, has so far not given any indications of whom he supports.