The leaders discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between Britain and the US.
London:
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer told US President Joe Biden on Friday that British support for Ukraine’s war with Russia was “unwavering”, in a first conversation hours after Britain’s new leader took charge.
“Leaders reiterated their steadfast commitment to Ukraine and the Prime Minister underlined that UK support for Ukraine was steadfast,” Starmer’s Downing Street office said in a readout.
“The leaders discussed their shared commitment to the special relationship between Britain and the US, and their shared ambitions for greater economic growth,” the statement said.
It said Starmer “looked forward to working side by side across the breadth of the relationship, including the AUKUS partnership and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific”.
Britain, the US and Australia have in recent years forged a new defense alliance called AUKUS, aimed primarily at countering China’s growing military strength in the Asia-Pacific region.
The call between British and American leaders comes just days before they meet at a NATO summit in Washington next week.
Biden had previously congratulated Starmer for leading his centre-left Labor Party to a landslide victory in the general election.
“I look forward to our shared work in support of freedom and democracy around the world, and to further strengthening the special relationship between our two countries,” Biden said on X.
The British lecture said the two leaders also “reflected on their shared commitment to protecting the achievements of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement,” referring to the decades-old Northern Ireland peace deal that Washington helped secure.
The agreement has come under pressure in recent years due to Britain’s departure from the European Union.
As a result, Northern Ireland has Britain’s only land border with the EU, along the sensitive Irish border.
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