Russia‘s war in Ukraine, NATO‘s leadership, and artificial intelligence governance are President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak‘s priorities for Sunak’s first trip to the White House.
But those agenda items come at the expense of a new trade agreement that the United Kingdom has been pressing for since it separated from the European Union in 2020.
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Sunak is seeking Biden’s support for bilateral endeavors to advance and set standards for AI, according to Brookings Institution Center on the United States and Europe senior nonresident fellow Daniel Hamilton.
“He knows that prospects for a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement are not good at the moment, so he wants to push less comprehensive arrangements on digital trade, investment, and clean technologies,” the Transatlantic Leadership Network president told the Washington Examiner. “Ukraine will figure prominently, and Sunak might pitch his [defense] secretary to be the next NATO secretary-general.”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre declined to comment on Sunak’s proposal to create an international AI watchdog organization.
“But we’ve been very clear about how we see moving forward with AI and how it needs to be done in a responsible way,” she told reporters on Wednesday. “We need to make sure that we’re protecting the privacy of Americans, and so we’ll definitely continue to speak to that.”
Jean-Pierre also declined to disclose whether Biden and Sunak would talk about Ukraine’s Kakhovka dam, an attribution of responsibility for its collapse, and what additional humanitarian aid is required before Kyiv’s highly anticipated counteroffensive against Russia. The U.K. has been more assertive in its defense of Ukraine than the U.S., with Sunak last month spearheading the effort to form an F-16 fighter jet coalition and last week saying Ukraine’s “rightful place” is in NATO.
A day earlier, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby similarly sidestepped questions about British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace’s candidacy to succeed NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, who met with Biden earlier this week, is simultaneously being considered for the diplomatic role.
Jean-Pierre announced Wednesday that Stoltenberg will be at the White House next Monday before next month’s NATO summit in Lithuania.
“The president believes that the secretary has been, has done an outstanding job, a superb job as secretary-general, especially in this critical moment in history, leading the alliance that we have responded to, in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine,” she said. “We’re very, very grateful for his leadership.”
Sunak’s White House working visit, previewed as an opportunity to deepen the “close and historic relationship” between the U.S. and the U.K., will incorporate a bilateral meeting and a joint press conference.
“Building on their recent engagements, the two leaders will review a range of global issues, including their steadfast support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia’s brutal war of aggression, as well as further action to bolster energy security and address the climate crisis,” the White House said. “The president and the prime minister will discuss efforts to continue strengthening our economic relationship as we confront shared economic and national security challenges.”
“They will also review developments in Northern Ireland as part of their shared commitment to preserving the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement,” it added.
Sunak’s White House visit on Thursday was preceded by a trip to Congress on Wednesday to meet House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and his Senate counterparts. Sunak, too, attended Wednesday’s Washington Nationals baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks but decided against throwing the opening pitch.
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“Being at Arlington this morning just reminds us there’s a long history between our countries,” Sunak told McCarthy of his visit Wednesday to Arlington National Cemetery‘s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “When we stick together, I agree with you, the world has benefited. And what we need to do now is figure out how do we make sure that that relationship is strong to deal with the challenges of the future.”
This will be Biden and Sunak’s fourth meeting in as many months. The pair sat down in San Diego, California, in March during an AUKUS trilateral security pact event, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in April, and in Hiroshima, Japan, last month during the Group of Seven leaders summit.
