JOE Biden will meet with the King and Prime Minister when he visits the UK before heading to Lithuania and Finland on an overseas trip from July 9-13, the White House has said.
A visit to the UK had long been expected and comes after Rishi Sunak visited Washington last month for talks with the US president.
Biden made a brief trip to Northern Ireland earlier this year to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, meeting the PM for brief talks in Belfast.
“President Biden is scheduled to travel to the United Kingdom, Lithuania, and Finland from July 9-13," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.
“President Biden will first travel to London, United Kingdom, for engagements with King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to further strengthen the close relationship between our nations."
The White House said that after visiting the UK Biden would “then travel to Vilnius, Lithuania from July 11-12 to attend the 74th Nato Summit”.
“On July 13, President Biden will visit Helsinki, Finland, for a US-Nordic Leaders Summit.”
The apparently short trip by Biden comes after the US and the UK announced a new partnership, the “Atlantic Declaration”, to bolster economic security.
Announced during Sunak’s visit to the White House in Washington DC, it included commitments on easing trade barriers, closer defence industry ties and a data protection deal.
While both sides used that visit to hail the strength of US-UK ties, Biden has not been afraid of occasionally criticising London.
Biden in May claimed that he visited Northern Ireland earlier this year to ensure the “Brits didn’t screw around”, amid ongoing US concern about the impact of Brexit on the peace process.
During that visit, the President told the Irish parliament that he believed the UK should be working more closely with the administration in Dublin to support Northern Ireland.
