Joe Biden hails ‘best of allies’ in first talks with UK’s Keir Starmer
- Making his Nato debut in Washington, the new British prime minister says the ‘special relationship’ with the US is ‘stronger than ever’
New UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer met US President Joe Biden at the White House for the first time Wednesday on with the American leader hailing Britain as a key ally on global issues including the war in Ukraine.
“We’re the best of allies in the whole world,” the 81-year-old Biden said as he shook hands with his fellow centre-left leader in the Oval Office.
Biden added that he saw Britain as the “knot tying the transatlantic alliance together”.
Starmer, 61, also making his debut at a Nato summit in Washington less than a week after winning elections, said that “this special relationship is so important” and that it’s “stronger than ever now”.
The two men also joked about the English football team’s semi-final win in the Euro 2024 championships, saying their victory over the Netherlands was “all because of the prime minister”.
Neither man however addressed the elephant in the room, with Biden’s re-election chances mired in crisis since a disastrous debate performance against Donald Trump.