Biden: US and UK reaffirmed "special relationship" with revitalized Atlantic Charter
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury
Source: Pool
President Biden said his bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was "very productive" and reaffirmed the special relationship between the countries, in his remarks from St. Ives, Cornwall in England ahead of the G7 summit.
"We discharged and discussed a broad range of issues on which the United Kingdom and the United States are working in very close cooperation. We affirmed the special relationship, as it's not said lately, the special relationship between our people, and renewed our commitment to defending the enduring democratic values that both our nations share," Biden said.
The President noted that the two countries have agreed to work together in combatting a new century of challenges with a revitalized Atlantic Charter, which includes addressing cybersecurity and climate change.
"The strong foundation of our partnership, 80 years ago, Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt signed an agreement known as the Atlantic Charter. It was a statement of first principles, a promise that the United Kingdom and the United States would meet the challenges of their age and they would meet it together. Today we build on that commitment with a revitalized Atlantic Charter updated to reaffirm that promise while speaking directly to the key challenges of this century: cybersecurity, emerging technologies, global health and climate change. We discussed our common goals for driving ambitious global action to address the climate crisis," Biden said.
1:31 p.m. ET, June 10, 2021
NOW: Biden delivers remarks after meeting with UK prime minister
From CNN's Betsy Klein and Kate Sullivan
Source: Pool
President Biden is delivering remarks now from St. Ives, Cornwall in England following his bilateral meeting with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
He's expected to announce the United States plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally as part of his efforts to reassert US leadership on the world stage, officials said.
Administration officials suggested the move is part of a broader effort for the world's democracies to lead the way in pandemic recovery.
Here are key things to know about the vaccine donation:
Officials said the Pfizer doses will begin to ship in August and 200 million doses will be delivered by the end of this year.
The remaining 300 million doses will be delivered in the first half of 2022.
They will be manufactured in the US, the officials said, “employing thousands of workers” in states like Michigan, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
The cost will be around $1.5 billion, which will come from previously-allocated funds in the American Rescue Plan relief package passed earlier this year.
There will be no conditions for the nations that receive the doses.
Biden's move today will also serve to counter efforts by Russia and China to use their own state-funded vaccines to expand their influence across the world.
Hundreds of millions of doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, along with China's Sinovac and Sinopharm shots, have been making their way around the world. Only the Sinopharm vaccine has been accepted into the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative.
Biden had previously committed to sharing 80 million Covid-19 vaccine doses with other countries. Last week, the Biden administration announced a plan to share the first 25 million Covid-19 vaccine doses with the rest of the world and an overall framework of distributing at least 80 million doses by the end of June.
1:17 p.m. ET, June 10, 2021
Hotel near G7 site in Cornwall shuts down after some staff test positive for Covid-19
From CNN’s Sarah Dean in London
A waterfront hotel near the G7 summit venue in Cornwall, England, has been forced to shut down after a number of staff tested positive for Covid-19, the company that owns the hotel told CNN in a statement on Thursday. The first day of the summit is set to start tomorrow.
A spokesperson for St Austell Brewery, which owns the Pedn Olva Hotel in St Ives, Cornwall, said: “We can confirm that a number of our team at the Pedn Olva, St Ives, have tested positive for Covid-19.”
“We immediately notified Public Health England of these cases and have been working closely with them to ensure we follow all appropriate safety guidelines. Following extensive discussions over the last few days with PHE and Cornwall Council, we have taken the decision to fully close the hotel,” the statement continued.
“We fully appreciate the inconvenience given the limited accommodation options available in the area at the moment but the safety and security of our team and guests is our upmost priority. The hotel will reopen once a full Covid-19 deep clean has taken place and we have the available staff to run it,” it concluded.
The company did not respond to questions regarding anyone associated with the G7 who could potentially be staying at the hotel, the number of people who have tested positive or what has happened to the guests. It said it would be providing no further comment.
2:19 p.m. ET, June 10, 2021
Here's what the new Atlantic Charter says
From CNN's Kevin Liptak in Falmouth, England
Toby Melville/WPA Pool/Getty Images
The new Atlantic Charter that President Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson were set to sign on Thursday during their bilateral meeting is meant to reflect the shifting threats facing the world 80 years after the original document was signed following World War II.
"It's been 80 years since the last one, it's about time that it gets refreshed," a senior administration official said ahead of the signing. "The original really outlined what the post-war world order could and should look like, this new charter will make clear what the coming decades of the 21st century can and should look like," the official said.
The new Atlantic Charter is aimed at building upon the historic declaration made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II.
"Today, the President of the United States and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom reaffirm their commitment to work together to realise our vision for a more peaceful and prosperous future," the document reads.
"Our revitalised Atlantic Charter, building on the commitments and aspirations set out eighty years ago, affirms our ongoing commitment to sustaining our enduring values and defending them against new and old challenges. We commit to working closely with all partners who share our democratic values and to countering the efforts of those who seek to undermine our alliances and institutions," it continues.
There are a few interesting points that reflect the document's change to a modern pact between the US and UK, in particular its mention of disinformation campaigns and malign influence in elections.
The document reads: "We remain united behind the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the peaceful resolution of disputes. We oppose interference through disinformation or other malign influences, including in elections, and reaffirm our commitment to debt transparency, sustainability and sound governance of debt relief. So too will we defend key principles such as freedom of navigation and overflight and other internationally lawful uses of the seas."
There are also mentions of confronting injustice and inequality, cyber threats, the climate crisis and health threats.
US hopes to agree that ambassadors can return to Moscow and Washington at next week's Biden-Putin summit
From CNN's From Kylie Atwood and Jennifer Hansler
President Biden plans to address the strained US-Russia diplomatic relationship when he meets President Vladimir Putin next week. There's hope that the two leaders can agree to send their ambassadors back to Washington and Moscow after months with no senior diplomat being present in either country, according to three sources familiar with the plans.
Russia's ambassador to the US, Anatoly Antonov, was recalled from Washington about three months ago after Biden called Putin a killer. US Ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, left Moscow almost two months ago after Russia suggested he return to Washington for consultations.
Not having an ambassador in either country has made conducting basic diplomacy even more difficult at a time when relations are already severely strained.
The ambassadors' departures signaled a new low point in an already tense relationship, and their return appears to be the only modest deliverable that the Biden administration is eyeing out of the high-stakes summit. The aspiration comes as the Biden administration has tempered expectations that the US and Russia would come away from the meeting with any groundbreaking agreements.
"We don't think of US-Russia summits in terms of deliverables," National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan told reporters this week. "We are thinking of it as an opportunity to communicate what our intentions and capabilities are."
A State Department spokesperson said that Sullivan will "return to Moscow in the coming weeks," and that the US remains committed to "open channels of communication with the Russian government, both to advance US interests and to reduce the risk of miscalculation between our countries."
Vaccine diplomacy will be a key part of Biden's international trip
From CNN's Kevin Liptak, Jeff Zeleny and Kaitlan Collins
President Biden's expected announcement Thursday evening that the United States plans to donate 500 million Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine doses globally will be a part of his efforts to reassert US leadership on the world stage, officials said.
Administration officials suggested the move is part of a broader effort for the world's democracies to lead the way in pandemic recovery.
"This will be clearly the largest purchase and donation of Covid-19 vaccines by a single country, by far, and it's an unprecedented response," a senior administration official told reporters Thursday.
"We want to do everything we can to prevent more tragic loss across the globe," the official said, adding that it is "in our national interest to end this pandemic everywhere."
"Covid-19 knows no borders, and as long as this virus is in our world, Americans are at risk," the official said, stressing how the virus also "threatens economic opportunity."
The move will also serve to counter efforts by Russia and China to use their own state-funded vaccines to expand their influence across the world.
Hundreds of millions of doses of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine, along with China's Sinovac and Sinopharm shots, have been making their way around the world. Only the Sinopharm vaccine has been accepted into the World Health Organization's COVAX initiative.
Many countries — including in Latin America, which has traditionally been an area of US influence — have been buying up large numbers of Russian and Chinese vaccines to fill gaps in their own vaccine rollouts.
The White House has said it has been monitoring and is concerned by efforts by Russia and China to use vaccines to make geopolitical gains.
The move is also intended to encourage other US allies to step up.
These are the people attending Biden and Johnson's bilateral meeting
From CNN's Betsy Klein in Falmouth, England
Toby Melville/WPA Pool/Getty Images
President Biden's bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and members of the United Kingdom delegation is still underway in Carbis Bay, Cornwall in England.
Here's a full list of participants from the White House:
US
President Biden
Antony Blinken, Secretary of State
Jake Sullivan, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
Yael Lempert, Chargé d’Affaires of the US Embassy
Jeffrey Zients, coordinator of the Covid-19 Response and Counselor to the President
Daleep Singh, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor, and Deputy National Economic Council Director
Dr. Amanda Sloat, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European Affairs, National Security Council
Rebecca Neff, Director for European Affairs
UK
Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Dominic Raab, MP, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland
Karen Pierce, Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the United States
Lord David Frost, Minister of State
Sir Stephen Lovegrove, National Security Advisor
Mr. Will Gelling, Private Secretary for Foreign Affairs
Professor John Bew, Foreign Policy Special Advisor
First lady says Biden has been "studying for weeks" ahead of foreign trip and Putin meeting
From CNN's Kevin Liptak in Falmouth, England
Phil Noble/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
First lady Jill Biden says her husband has been preparing for weeks for his first foreign trip, including his high-stakes meeting next week with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"He’s so well prepared," Dr. Biden told reporters in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, as her husband was sitting down to his first meeting with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"He’s been studying for weeks working up for today," she said. "He knows most of the leaders that will be here. Joe loves foreign policy. This is his forte."
Asked specifically about whether he'd prepared to meet with Putin, she exclaimed: "He’s overprepared!"
She said the trip was off to a "beautiful beginning," and said she and the President were looking forward to meeting Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday.
Asked to explain her jacket, which had the word "love" printed on the back, Dr. Biden said, "I think we’re bringing love from America."
"We’re trying to bring unity across the globe," she said, adding she hoped people "feel a sense of hope after this year of the pandemic."
1:26 p.m. ET, June 10, 2021
NOW: Biden meets with UK PM Boris Johnson
From CNN's Kevin Liptak and Kate Sullivan
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and US President Joe Biden with first lady Jill Biden walk outside Carbis Bay, Cornwall, on Thursday, June 10. Toby Melville/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
President Biden's first in-person engagement with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is underway now in southwest England. They are expected to commit to working to open up travel between the US and the UK and lifting restrictions that were put in place to stop the spread of Covid-19, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The two leaders exchanged pleasantries, but otherwise did not speak substantively to reporters ahead of the talks.
Biden said he'd been to the United Kingdom many times, but it was his first stop as President. Biden, noting it was a pleasure to meet Johnson's wife, quipped that both he and Johnson had "married up."
Earlier, Biden greeted Johnson along a stretch of ocean to launch their first face-to-face meeting. The two men's wives, Jill Biden and Carrie Johnson, also joined the greeting on a deck overlooking St. Ives Bay in Cornwall.
“It gorgeous. I don’t want to go home,” Biden said, according to pool reporters.
The foursome climbed a set of stairs to go inside, where the old Atlantic Charter had been put on display for the leaders to view.
The leaders are planning to sign an updated version of the document that better reflects the 21st-century world. The new Atlantic Charter will be modeled on the historic declaration made by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1941 that set out American and British goals for the world after the end of World War II, according to national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
As they viewed the charter, Biden and Johnson were both wearing masks. Outside, the leaders and their wives were maskless.
The new charter will outline priorities, values and challenges that include defending democracy, reaffirming the importance of collective security, building a more fair and sustainable global trading system, combating cyberattacks, addressing the climate crisis, protecting biodiversity and bringing an end to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Some more background: Personal dynamics between the leaders of the United States and Britain have often played a key role in the "special relationship" between the two trans-Atlantic powers. Roosevelt and Churchill were famously close, as were Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President Bill Clinton, and then, to the surprise of many, Blair and US President George W. Bush during the Iraq War.
Johnson was a favorite of former US President Donald Trump, who praised him for his support for Brexit, Britain's withdrawal from the European Union. During the 2020 campaign, Biden referred to Johnson as a "physical and emotional clone" of Trump.
Biden still holds deep reservations about Britain's exit from the European Union — a move Johnson championed and has advocated for as prime minister. Biden is expected to press Johnson on the issue during their talks, and specifically on how it might affect the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
Hear what the two leaders said during their meeting:
