Biden will welcome Sunak to White House next week

President Joe Biden will welcome British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the White House for an Official Working Visit next week on 8 June, the White House has said.

In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Mr Biden “looks forward” to meeting with the prime minister to “further deepen the close and historic partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom”.

Ms Jean-Pierre said the bilateral session will follow up on recent meetings between Mr Biden and Mr Sunak, who last saw each other at the G7 summit in Japan earlier this month.

She added that the US and UK 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,” and “discuss efforts to continue strengthening our economic relationship as we confront shared economic and national security challenges”.

The White House spokesperson also said Mr Biden and Mr Sunak will “review developments in Northern Ireland as part of their shared commitment to preserving the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement”.

A spokesperson for the prime minister said the two men would spend their time together “build[ing] on discussions the Prime Minister and President Biden have had in recent months about enhancing the level of co-operation and co-ordination between the UK and US on the economic challenges that will define our future, including securing our supply chains and transitioning to zero-carbon economies”.

“It will also be an opportunity to discuss issues including sustaining our support for Ukraine as we build on the success of our G7 summit in the run-up to the Nato summit in July,” the spokesperson added.

Mr Sunak’s visit to the White House will come during the second half of what will be a two-day visit to the US capital, during which he will also meet with top congressional leaders and business figures.

He last visited the US in March when he travelled to San Diego for a meeting with Mr Biden and Australian leader Anthony Albanese regarding the Aukus agreement to supply Australia with nuclear-powered submarines.

The prime minister and the US president also met in Belfast in April, and will meet again at the Nato leaders’ summit in Lithuania this summer.