President Biden to meet King Charles, Sunak in UK ahead of NATO summit

The President of the United States, Joe Biden has landed in the UK ahead of a NATO summit to meet the British monarch King Charles III for the first time since his coronation.

Biden will also meet the United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday before he departs to Lithuania later this week for the summit, BBC reported.

Among issues to be discussed are how several allies questioned his call to send cluster bombs to Ukraine.

The UK and Canada are among those who spoke about supplying the bombs, which are widely restricted because of the danger they pose to civilians.

However, the US has said the bombs are needed because Ukraine’s weapon stocks are dwindling.

Both Biden and Sunak are expected to discuss various issues, including the war in Ukraine.

BBC said Sunak has not directly criticised his US counterpart following Friday’s cluster bomb announcement – but on Saturday he said that the UK was one of 123 countries signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, an international treaty which bans the production or use of the weapons.

Other US allies have gone further, however. Nato partner nation New Zealand said on Sunday the munitions could cause “huge damage to innocent people”.

While in the UK, Biden will also meet King Charles for the first time since he was crowned.

Members of Nato – a military alliance of 31 Western nations – will then meet in Vilnius on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It was revealed that boosting ammunition stockpiles and reviewing defence plans will be on the agenda.