Ahead of the G7, Biden and Johnson celebrate alliance despite differences over Northern Ireland

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie Johnson and US President Joe Biden with First Lady Jill Biden walk past the Carbis Bay Hotel, Carbis Bay, Cornwall, Great Britain June 10, 2021. REUTERS - TOBY MELVILLE

Text by: RFI Follow

3 min

As a preamble to the G7 summit this Friday, June 11, Joe Biden and Boris Johnson spent the day Thursday together in the small seaside resort of Carbis Bay, in Cornwall.

The US President and the British Prime Minister took advantage of their first face-to-face meeting to reaffirm the historic alliance between their two countries, choosing to officially put aside their differences linked to post-Brexit tensions in Northern Ireland.

Publicity

Read more

With our correspondent in London,

Muriel Delcroix

"

A big breath of fresh air

": this is how Boris Johnson summed up his meeting with Joe Biden.

Previously, the two leaders had displayed by the beach all smiles and hand in hand with their wives, striving to admire the coast of Cornwall despite the wind and the cloudy sky.

At the end of their face-to-face, Boris Johnson dodged the difference of view with his host around the post-Brexit Northern Irish Protocol and asserted that the two men were in "

complete harmony

" on the need to resolve the problems in the British province.

► To read also: 

Brexit: failure of discussions on the Northern Irish protocol

Ditto for Joe Biden who welcomed "

very productive

 "

discussions

. For Washington, as for London, the priority is to press the

reset

button 

, to reset both their relationship, but also their position on the international scene. Hence the very symbolic Atlantic Charter “

revitalized

” to jointly face the challenge of climate change, emerging technologies, cybersecurity and health crises.

The US president, criticized for delaying sharing vaccines with the rest of the planet, has confirmed that the United States will buy 500 million doses of Covid vaccine to give them to other countries.

But to live up to their promises and bring their G7 partners with them, London and Washington will have to be much more ambitious than setting up a working group to ensure the resumption of travel between the two countries.

► Read also: The United States gives 500 million vaccines to poor countries

Newsletter

Receive all international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_FR

  • United States

  • UK

  • Joe biden

  • G7

  • Boris Johnson