Prime minister Boris Johnson and US president Joe Biden will today hold talks at the White House.
This comes the day after the US announced they would remove travel restrictions on UK citizens from November.
Last week the US, UK and Australia announced a landmark security pact to share nuclear-submarine technology in light of China’s increasing military presence in the pacific region.
It is thought that Johnson will seek to encourage Biden to commit extra funding to climate finance ahead of November’s COP 26 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.
The recent withdrawal from Afghanistan, for which both the US and UK administrations have received sharp international criticism, will also need to be addressed.
Johnson told journalists today that the relationship between the two countries is as “good as it has been for decades”.
However, the likelihood of a breakthrough on a UK-US trade deal remains small.
Johnson explained: “We want to do it, but what we want is a good Free Trade Agreement (FTA), a great FTA. And I have quite a lot of experience of American negotiations, and they are pretty ruthless, the American negotiators. And I would much rather get a deal that really works for the UK than get a quick deal.”
He also emphasised that the UK was “at one” with the Biden administration on tackling climate change, and on the importance of a “green industrial revolution” that could deliver millions of green jobs.
When asked about his personal relationship with the US president, Johnson said: “It hasn’t been a relationship that’s been very long in gestation. But it’s terrific, I mean genuinely terrific. We see eye-to-eye on all sorts of things. Have we bonded over any particular thing? He’s a bit of a train nut, as am I. He likes trains, which is a good thing.”
The meeting will mark the second time the leaders have met in person, the other occasion being the G7 summit in Cornwall earlier this year.
Foreign secretary Liz Truss also held talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last night during the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
The two discussed the UK-US partnership and their shared ambitions for stronger economic and security ties as two leading free-enterprise democracies.
They also discussed how they could use the Build Back Better World initiative to provide reliable and sustainable investment to developing countries.
The need for a coordinated response in Afghanistan was also discussed.
They also agree on the need for an immediate release of all arbitrarily detained British and American nationals in Iran, and on the need for Iran to return to negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in Vienna.
The foreign secretary also raised the case of Harry Dunn. A previous request to extradite Anne Sacool, who the police wish to speak to about the incident, has been blocked by the US government on the grounds of diplomatic immunity.
