Biden engages in ‘tea diplomacy’ in U.K. ahead of NATO Summit

U.S. President Joe Biden held meetings with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the country’s monarch, King Charles III, on July 10, on an overnight stopover in London, en route to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania

U.S. President Joe Biden held meetings with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the country’s monarch, King Charles III, on July 10, on an overnight stopover in London, en route to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. The conversation at No. 10 was the sixth meeting between Mr. Biden and Mr. Sunak, with the two leaders exchanging notes before the NATO Summit.

Sitting in the garden at Downing Street mid-morning on July 10, sipping tea, Mr. Biden described the U.S. relationship with the U.K. as “rock solid”.

“We stand as two of the firmest allies in that alliance and I know we’ll want to do everything we can to strengthen Euro-Atlantic security,” Mr. Sunak said.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Sunak discussed “the progress of the [Ukrainian] 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”, a Downing Street spokesperson said.

American allies — including the U.K. — have however shown reluctance to join the U.S. in its “very difficult decision” (as Mr. Biden has described it) to provide cluster munitions to Ukraine.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said the refusal of Mr. Sunak (and other NATO allies) to send cluster munitions was not a sign of their waning support for Ukraine.

“I do not think you will see fracture, division, or disunity as … as a result of this decision, even though many allies and signatories to Oslo [the Convention] are in a position where they themselves cannot say, ‘We are for cluster munitions,’” Mr. Sullivan told the White House press corps on board Air Force One during the U.S. delegation’s flight to London.