Biden meets British premier and king on eve of NATO summit

President Biden met Monday with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Charles in a quick London trip as he heads to a NATO summit aimed at bolstering Western support for Ukraine.

Biden and Sunak met for the sixth time at 10 Downing Street before both planned to jet into Lithuania for a NATO summit to be held in Vilnius, just 137 miles from the Russian border.

The two leaders are expected to press other allies starting Tuesday to keep the faith with Kyiv as Ukraine pleads for more help to repel the Russian invasion that started nearly 1½ years ago.

The meeting was held under a bit of a cloud of controversy over Biden’s recent decision to provide Ukraine with cluster munitions that are banned by Britain and more than 100 nations worldwide.

The U.S. says Ukraine needs the controversial ammunition to counter Russia as it pushes ahead with a summer offensive that has gone slower than expected so far.

After meeting Sunak, Biden headed to Windsor Castle to meet the newly minted king and prod private companies to do more to bolster clean energy in developing countries.

The meticulously choreographed gathering at Windsor Castle injected substance into the type of encounter between president and monarch that historically has been more about the pomp and circumstance.

After the arrival formalities were dispensed with, Biden and Charles participated in a climate-focused roundtable with officials from the financial and philanthropic sectors. John Kerry, the U.S. envoy on climate, attended.

The 74-year-old Charles, who was crowned in May, has already made the environment a significant part of his policy legacy and has long fought to protect wildlife and battle climate change. Biden, for his part, identified climate change as one of the four crises he was determined to confront as president. He signed a sweeping legislative package last year that includes nearly $375 billion in climate-related incentives.

With News Wire Services