Daily US Times: US president Joe Biden has issued a statement pledging to affirm his “special relationship” with the UK when he meets British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at this week’s G7 summit in the UK and discuss matters including the impasse in Northern Ireland.
In an article for the Washington Post published on Sunday, president Biden wrote: “In the United Kingdom, after meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson to affirm the special relationship between our nations, I will participate in the G7 summit.”
Biden wrote before his first international trip as president: “This group of leading democracies and economies has not met in person in two years due to the coronavirus. Ending this pandemic, improving health security for all nations and driving a robust, inclusive global economic recovery will be our top priorities.”
The US president added that he will use his summit time to realise “America’s renewed commitment to our allies and partners”, and “rally the world’s democracies” against the most significant threats of the world, including climate change and coronavirus pandemic.
Mr Biden is also reportedly expected to speak to Boris Johnson about current disagreements over the Brexit deal.
Bide will also express his support for UK’s Northern Ireland protocol, which has met fierce opposition from unionists and loyalists who say it separates the region from the rest of the UK.
The Times reported that the US president is expected to tell Johnson that the US sees the protocol as a crucial part of maintaining long-term peace in Northern Ireland and, in particular, the Good Friday agreement, for which the US is a guarantor.
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