Biden to meet King Charles and Rishi Sunak on UK visit

US President to travel to London on July 9

US President Joe Biden met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House on June 8. AFP

US President Joe Biden will meet King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak later this month, the White House said on Sunday.

The White House said Mr Biden's UK trip, beginning on July 9, is aimed at strengthening “the close relationship between our nations”.

It comes several weeks after Mr Sunak visited Washington, where he met Mr Biden at the White House.

The two leaders have already met a handful of times since Mr Sunak took office in October.

Mr Sunak pushed for closer economic ties between the US and UK and the two leaders reiterated their commitment to help Ukraine defend itself against Russia's invasion.

The two leaders announced the so-called Atlantic Declaration, which includes easing trade barriers and closer defence industry ties while relying more on artificial intelligence, clean energy and critical minerals.

During his two-day visit, Mr Sunak also met with US business leaders and members of Congress.

After his trip to London, Mr Biden is scheduled to travel to Vilnius, Lithuania to attend the 74th Nato Summit, followed by a visit to Helsinki, Finland on July 13 for a US-Nordic Leaders Summit.

The White House is preparing to welcome Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Washington next week to discuss the nation's bid to join Nato.

Sweden asked to join the alliance last year, but its membership bid was blocked by Turkey and Hungary.

Top Turkish and Swedish diplomats are expected to meet on Thursday in Brussels for more talks on Stockholm's push to join Nato.

But the chances of a change of heart on Turkey's part are dwindling after the Scandinavian country allowed a protest during which a Quran was burnt in public for the second time this year. Turkish and Arab officials strongly denounced the decision.