Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SORT OUT NORTHERN IRELAND
President’s demand on Brexit before Good Friday Agreement’s 25th year
JOE Biden will tell Rishi Sunak to finally end the post-brexit rows over Northern Ireland when they meet for the first time.
The Prime Minister will fly into Indonesia today to take part in the G20 gathering of world leaders.
Downing Street said last night that the premiers will renew the “strong alliance” of Britain and the US, which “will not change”.
But the US President is expected to urge Mr
Sunak to resolve the dispute with the EU in time for April’s 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin met Mr Sunak for the first time last week at the British-irish Council meeting in Blackpool and both sides were much more positive that progress could be made.
The G20 summit in Bali will also be the first time a British PM has met a representative of the Russian government since the invasion of Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin snubbed the event and is sending foreign minister Sergei
Lavrov instead. No10 has pledged that Mr Sunak will “absolutely use every opportunity to confront Russia about its continued illegal actions”.
The PM’S spokesman said: “We will not shy away from any opportunity to make our position loud and clear.”
Mr Sunak will call on Moscow to allow grain shipments out of Ukraine to continue as it threatens to stop them from this Saturday.
He will also urge fellow world leaders to maintain their backing for Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. His spokesman said: “Mr Sunak is emphatic that our support will not fade or alter.”
In Bali, the PM will signal he will bring a halt to widespread economic intervention as he argues countries should “direct government support to where it is most needed”.
He said last night: “Addressing the economic crisis will require a concerted effort by the world’s largest economies.
“At the G20, leaders need to step up to fix the weaknesses in the international economic system, which Putin has exploited for years.”