Biden arrives in UK for conferences with King Charles, Sunak forward of NATO summit | World News

President Joe Biden arrived in Britain Sunday the place he'll meet King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier than persevering with to Vilnius for a NATO summit, then a closing cease in new NATO member Finland.

Air Drive One touched down at Stansted Airport north of London late within the night, an AFP journalist reported.

On Monday, he meets the British monarch at Windsor Fortress, one of many royal residences, for the primary time since Charles III's coronation.

The US president didn't attend the ceremony, sending First Woman Jill Biden as a substitute.

Their talks are anticipated to give attention to environmental points, the White Home mentioned.

Biden will even be assembly with Sunak at 10 Downing Road.

The primary a part of Biden's Europe journey would be the NATO summit within the Lithuanian capital Tuesday and Wednesday, the place the Western allies will talk about serving to Ukraine to oust Russian occupation forces.

Ukraine is urgent for admission to the army alliance however Biden mentioned in an interview aired Sunday with CNN that this can not occur till the conflict is over.

Bringing Ukraine in now would imply NATO is at conflict with Russia, Biden mentioned.

Beneath its Article 5, NATO is dedicated to defending any member that comes underneath assault. "It is a dedication that we have all made it doesn't matter what. If the conflict is happening, then we're all in conflict. We're at conflict with Russia, if that had been the case," Biden mentioned.

Biden hopes to make use of the summit to strain Turkey to drop its opposition to Sweden's all-but-cleared NATO membership bid. Entry requires unanimous consent from all members.

In a cellphone name with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday, Biden "conveyed his want to welcome Sweden into NATO as quickly as attainable," the White Home mentioned.

The 2 leaders "expressed their shared dedication to proceed supporting Ukraine," the assertion added.

Erdogan's workplace mentioned individually that he would meet with Biden on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Vilnius.

The talks will give attention to "Ukraine's place in NATO, Sweden's NATO membership, and the supply of F-16" fighter jets, which Turkey hopes to safe from the USA, the Turkish presidency mentioned.

Ukraine and NATO

Within the interview with CNN, Biden had mentioned he was contemplating supplying Turkey and Greece with new or upgraded US-made fighter plane as an enticement for Turkey to let Sweden be part of NATO.

"And so, what I am making an attempt to, fairly frankly, put collectively is slightly little bit of a consortium right here the place we're strengthening NATO by way of the army capability of each Greece in addition to Turkey and permit Sweden to come back in," Biden mentioned.

"Nevertheless it's in play. It isn't executed."

Erdogan's workplace mentioned, nevertheless, that it was "not right" to hyperlink Turkey's want to accumulate the fighter jets, which want congressional approval, with Sweden's membership drive.

Whereas in Vilnius, Biden will even ship a significant overseas coverage speech on the metropolis's college.

His journey comes within the wake of a controversial resolution to produce Ukraine with cluster munitions, which most NATO member international locations have banned however which the USA continues to carry in its arsenal and says will assist Ukraine destroy closely dug-in Russian forces.

Biden's closing cease earlier than returning to Washington on Thursday might be Finland, which ended its historic neutrality to enter NATO in response to the Russian assault on Ukraine.

Biden would be the first US president to go to Helsinki since Donald Trump went 5 years in the past to satisfy with Russian President Vladimir Putin.