AFP, published Sunday 09 July 2023 at 21:13.
US President Joe Biden flew to Britain on Sunday, where he met Britain’s King Charles III. will meet before leaving for the NATO summit in Vilnius.
The Democratic leader, who took off from a military base in Delaware aboard Air Force One, will conclude his trip with a visit to the Atlantic Alliance’s newest member, Finland.
He will be crowned Charles III on Monday for the first time since his coronation, at which Joe Biden was represented by his wife Jill Biden. meet at Windsor Castle.
According to the White House, the two heads of state should primarily deal with environmental issues. The US President will then meet Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing Street.
But the centerpiece of Joe Biden’s trip will be Tuesday and Wednesday’s NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, where Western allies will discuss their support for Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
– “Optimistic” –
The Democrat hopes to use this to persuade Turkey to accept Sweden’s candidacy for NATO.
“I think they should be part of NATO,” he said in an interview on CNN Sunday morning, in which he said he was “optimistic” about joining soon. from Stockholm.
To overcome Turkey’s reluctance to criticize Sweden for its alleged leniency towards Kurdish militants who have taken refuge in the Scandinavian country, the US President has proposed a solution that could include modernizing Turkey’s fleet of F-16s.
“I’m trying to reach some kind of consensus where we strengthen NATO through the military capabilities of Greece and Turkey and let Sweden step in. But that’s not done yet,” he said.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Joe Biden held a phone call on Sunday, with Ankara announcing a meeting between the two men in Vilnius later this week.
– Ukraine “not ready” –
As for Ukraine, Joe Biden has been inflexible. “I don’t think it’s ready to be part of NATO,” he said in conclusion.
The accession process requires the unanimity of the members. “I don’t think we in NATO agree whether or not to include Ukraine (…) in the middle of a war,” the president said.
“If that were the case, we would be at war with Russia,” he warned.
During his visit to Vilnius, Joe Biden will also deliver a foreign policy speech at a city university.
His diplomatic trip comes shortly after the highly controversial American decision to supply Kiev with cluster munitions, which are banned by most NATO members but retained by the United States in their arsenals.
The American President will end his trip with a visit to Helsinki, the capital of Finland which ended its historically neutral and then non-aligned position in NATO after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.