President Biden travels to Europe amid new rifts

President Biden left for Europe on July 9 (local time), starting a five-day trip with three stops, including the UK, Lithuania and Finland. According to US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, this trip will "demonstrate the president's leadership role on the world stage", AP reported.

President Biden on Air Force One on July 7

Strengthening allies

According to Reuters, Mr. Biden arrived in the British capital London on the night of July 9 and will meet with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as well as King Charles III on July 10. The White House said the US president's visit, which took place just a month after Mr. Sunak visited the White House, was aimed at "continuing to strengthen the close relationship between the two countries."

According to the British prime minister's spokesman, Mr. Biden and Mr. Sunak plan to discuss the war in Ukraine as well as the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) summit in Lithuania that both will attend later. This is the sixth meeting between the two leaders since Mr. Sunak became British prime minister in October 2022, according to AP.

Biden will also meet King Charles III at Windsor Castle in west London, where the late Queen Elizabeth II hosted former US Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The two are expected to discuss climate change, a topic Charles III has campaigned and spoken out about for more than five decades. Biden did not attend the British monarch’s coronation in May, so this will be the first time the two have met since that event.

Disagreement within NATO

The focus of Mr. Biden’s European trip is the NATO leaders’ meeting in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, on July 11-12. NATO, the US-led military alliance, has been given new life since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but also faces internal disagreements over membership and support for Kyiv.

The Vilnius summit comes as Biden has just announced plans to send Ukraine cluster bombs, a weapon that more than two-thirds of NATO members have banned because of their potential to cause civilian casualties, according to AP. At the summit, the US president is likely to face questions from allies about this decision.

Biden’s ability to unite NATO members will also be tested, as Sweden’s bid to join the alliance remains stalled by opposition from Türkiye and Hungary. NATO is also divided over Ukraine’s membership. While Lithuania and other countries on NATO’s eastern flank want to move quickly, the US, Germany and others favor a more cautious approach, fearing the prospect of NATO being drawn into direct conflict with Russia.

After Vilnius, Biden will travel to Helsinki, the capital of Finland, which became NATO’s newest member in April. Finland and Sweden both applied to join NATO last year, abandoning their long-standing neutrality over security concerns after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. In Helsinki on July 13, Biden is scheduled to meet with other Nordic leaders, including Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.

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