First visit after upsets
Biden lands ahead of NATO summit in London
07/10/2023, 02:40 am
US President Biden is stopping in London on his way to the NATO summit in Vilnius. Premier Sunak awaits him there and a difficult visit. Tension is growing over the question of whether and when Ukraine could join the defense alliance.
US President Joe Biden has arrived in the UK. The Air Force 1 presidential plane landed at London Stansted Airport on Sunday evening, according to a reporter who was traveling with him. On Monday, Biden has meetings with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street and with King Charles III. at Windsor Castle.
The main reason for his multi-day trip to Europe, however, is the two-day NATO summit in Lithuania, which starts on Tuesday. Despite several meetings with Sunak, Biden had recently caused resentment in Great Britain, for example because he had not come to the coronation of the 74-year-old monarch. His extensive visit to Ireland, during which he celebrated his Irish roots, was also received with dismay in London.
The meeting with the king is said to be about, among other things, mobilizing funds for the expansion of clean energies in developing countries. Biden wants to discuss a number of bilateral and global issues with Sunak. At least militarily, Great Britain is still undisputedly the United States’ closest ally in Europe.
Biden against Ukraine joining NATO soon
Biden’s onward journey to Vilnius, Lithuania, is planned for Monday evening, where the NATO summit begins on Tuesday. After the top meeting, Biden wants to fly on to Helsinki, where a meeting with the heads of state and government of Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and Norway is to take place. It will also be about Ukraine joining NATO. The debate revolves around the question of whether this could also take place before the end of the war. Biden recently spoke out against it.
Biden told CNN television that he hopes the leaders of the military alliance will “show a reasonable path for Ukraine to qualify for NATO membership.” In addition, there are “other requirements that must be met, including democratization”.
He does not believe that there is “unanimity” among the NATO countries as to whether Ukraine “should be accepted into the NATO family or not, now, in the middle of the war,” said the US President. If Ukraine were admitted now, according to Biden, this would mean a “war with Russia” because of NATO’s commitment to collective defense.