During his brief visit to the UK, US President Joe Biden noted that “the relationship between the US and the UK is rock solid”. Before the NATO summit planned for the 12th, Biden met with King Charles III of the United Kingdom and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak through this trip.
There were several reasons behind US President Joe Biden’s brief visit to the UK, the most important of which was the US decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs, an action that the UK declared it would not support.
The U.S. stance has drawn considerable criticism from the U.S. despite the U.S. president’s claim that the decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs was “extremely difficult,” and criticism and concern from U.S. allies, notably Canada, New Zealand and Spain. Important because the UK is the second largest arms and financial backer of Ukraine after the US.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has stressed that the UK does not support the supply of cluster bombs to Ukraine, not least because the UK has signed the International Convention for the Prohibition of Cluster Bombs (Getty Images)
openly object
Regarding the British political literature, there is such a description circulating in the outside world: “British foreign policy is only a shadow of American policy”, and this statement has also been confirmed by the war in Ukraine-before the United States announced its decision to supply cluster bombs, The views of the two allies have always been consistent.
Britain has apparently rejected the decision, although Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has tried to choose his words carefully when referring to the U.S. decision.
Sunak stressed that the UK would not support the supply of such bombs, not least because it has signed the International Convention on the Prohibition of Cluster Bombs and completely destroyed its stockpile of such weapons in 2013.
Criticism from politicians in the British opposition Labor Party was even more pointed. Rachel Reeves, the shadow home secretary, explicitly rejected the US decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Defense Committee of the British Parliament, also explicitly called on the United States to withdraw this decision. He tweeted, “This was a wrong move, the use of these bombs will result in many munitions not immediately exploding on the battlefield, but may detonate at a later period, and cause the death of civilians and innocent people .”
Russo-Ukraine War (Al Jazeera)
Ukraine’s NATO membership
Also at odds between the UK and the US is the issue of Ukraine joining NATO. The UK, through its Foreign Secretary Cleverley, announced in May this year that it supports “the rapid entry of Ukraine into NATO, especially given that its military has met all the necessary conditions”.
While France also supports Britain’s proposals for Ukraine’s swift entry into NATO, that support is far from enough in the face of U.S. opposition to the move.
U.S. President Joe Biden has declared more than once that he does not accept this action and believes that now is not the time to move forward with it. The United States believes that this move will exacerbate tensions with Moscow and put NATO in a situation where it will face Moscow directly.
The United States backs the nomination of the current NATO secretary-general to lead the group, while Britain wants to nominate its defense secretary (Reuters)
Controversy over NATO leadership
Among the many silent disputes between the US and the UK is the nomination of NATO’s leader, as Stoltenberg, the alliance’s current secretary-general, is set to extend his term for a year after receiving strong support from the US and will continue to compete for this position next year.
Other countries have also nominated many candidates for this important position. Among them, British Prime Minister Sunak announced his support for the nomination of British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace for this position. Ukraine’s generous military support is directly related.
Sunak’s desire to reward his ministers next year – the final year of the current Conservative cabinet – has clashed with the will of the United States, which wants to reappoint NATO’s current secretary-general, despite Europe’s opposition. Attempts to support the nomination of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to enter the race, but the final decision remains in the hands of the United States.
NATO (News Agency)
consensus on military spending
U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are both heading to Vilnius, Lithuania for the NATO summit, where they both agreed to step up pressure on NATO members to raise military spending to their gross domestic product (GDP) 2% of GDP).
Preliminary data suggest that many European countries, including France, Germany and Spain, are still off the mark. The UK, by contrast, has already surpassed that figure – it spends more than 2.1% of its gross domestic product on its defense budget.
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2023-07-11 06:49:23
