The royal visit is paired with Biden’s sixth meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak since Sunak for talks on a range of global issues, including the war in Ukraine. The two nations are among the most stalwart defenders of Kyiv, and the United Kingdom has pushed the White House to take more aggressive steps in providing military aid to Ukraine.
The climate portion of Biden’s visit with the king also underscores the high priority that the environment has been for the 74-year-old Charles, who has long fought to protect wildlife and battle climate change. Formally called the Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum, Biden and Charles will be briefed by officials from the financial and philanthropic sectors on their discussions about expanding clean energy initiatives in developing nations.
Before making his way to Windsor Castle, Biden sat down with Sunak at the prime minister’s official residence at 10 Downing Street in London to discuss Ukraine and other matters, possibly including the U.S. president’s decision this week to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions, a weapon that more than two-thirds of the members of the NATO military alliance have barred for their potential threat to civilian life.
Sunak, for his part, has distanced himself from the U.S. decision, and the prime minister’s spokesman said Monday the leaders spoke about Britain’s opposition to the use of cluster munitions during their meeting. Sullivan downplayed the disagreement over cluster munitions, saying, “I think you will find Prime Minister Sunak and President Biden on the same page strategically on Ukraine, in lockstep on the bigger picture of what we’re trying to accomplish and as united as ever – both in this conflict and writ large.”