Biden urges global alliance on rebuild
Joe Biden triumphantly announced that “the United States is back!” as he kicked off his first overseas tour as US president, urging global collaboration and consensus to rebuild after Covid and a reset of diplomatic ties after the divisive isolation of the Trump era.
His multilateral charm offensive began even before he touched down in England for a packed week that takes in a G7 leaders’ meeting, summits with NATO and the European Union, and talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
On the way, Mr Biden’s
national security adviser Jake Sullivan announced a major vaccine-sharing initiative.
He would not give full details but US media said the Biden administration was set to buy 500 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for international distribution.
Doses will be aimed at developing countries, he added, calling the US-led initiative “the right thing to do”.
“It’s what Americans do in times of need. We were the arsenal of democracy in World War II. We’re going to be the arsenal of vaccines,” Mr Sullivan added. The
Group of Seven will make a further joint declaration on “a comprehensive plan to help end this pandemic as rapidly as possible”, he said.
US armed forces personnel stationed at British Royal Air Force base Mildenhall in eastern England gave Mr Biden and his wife Jill a raucous welcome after the presidential jet touched down.
Mr Biden was due to meet British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday and the pair were set to agree on a new version of the “Atlantic Charter”, the 1941 pact signed by Winston Churchill and
Franklin D. Roosevelt setting out post-war goals for democracy, trade and opportunity.
The US leader will attend the G7 gathering in a Cornish seaside resort from Friday to Sunday, alongside the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
Then, in rapid succession, he will visit Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle and fly to Brussels for summits with the NATO military alliance on Monday and the European Union on Tuesday.
He will finish in Geneva, where he will meet Mr Putin, on Wednesday.
With the world still crawling out from under the wreckage of Covid-19, Biden has cast his diplomatic marathon as a return to badly needed US leadership.
At RAF Mildenhall, he said: “At every point along the way, we’re gonna make it clear that the United States is back and democracies of the world are standing together to tackle the toughest challenges, and the issues that matter most to our future, that we’re committed to leading with strength, defending our values and delivering for our people.”