US President Joe Biden meets PM Rishi Sunak ahead of the NATO Summit

The Prime Minister welcomed the President of the United States, Joe Biden, to Downing Street on Monday, 10 July.

The leaders discussed progress made since they announced the Atlantic Declaration, a first-of-its kind framework for the economic partnership between the UK and the US, last month.

Since Sunak and Biden’s last meeting in the White House, the government has begun work on a UK-US Critical Minerals Agreement and the Joint Action Group on Energy Security has met to begin work on strengthening our clean energy supply chains.

Both the leaders agreed to hold the first high level meeting between Number 10 and White House representatives in October to drive progress under the Atlantic Declaration.

Sunak also updated on the UK’s AI Summit which will be held this autumn and welcomed the President’s strong support for the initiative.

Looking ahead to the week’s NATO Summit, Sunak and Biden agreed on the need to strengthen our alliance and maintain our support for Ukraine. They discussed the progress of the counter-offensive and emphasised the importance of the country’s international partners committing to its long-term defence, providing the support Ukraine needs to win this war and secure a just and lasting peace.

On broader NATO issues, they agreed on the need to ensure that Sweden has a swift path to full NATO accession.

They also discussed the broader geopolitical context, including in the Indo-Pacific and with regard to Iran.

The leaders agreed on the importance of their friendship and of continuing the close dialogue they have had in the few months.