Chris Mason: Biden to meet Sunak and King during UK visit

The context of this presidential visit can be summarised in two numbers.

President Biden was last in the UK three months ago.

And this visit is the fifth time in five months Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Biden have met.

And you only need one word to describe this trip.

Short, just like the last one.

President Biden was in Belfast in April en route to the Republic of Ireland for a longer trip.

This time, he is en route to the summit of the defence alliance Nato, which is taking place in Vilnius in Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It is not a State visit, but a splash of the razzmatazz associated with one will be laid on.

Air Force One arrived at Stansted Airport in Essex on Sunday night.

The president’s day in the UK is expected to begin in Downing Street for talks with Rishi Sunak.

As you can read here, the immediate diplomatic backdrop, ahead of the Nato summit, is the public disagreement within the alliance over the US’s decision to give Ukraine what are known as cluster bombs.

They are also expected to talk about the so-called Atlantic Declaration — the arrangement well short of a trade deal announced in Washington last month – that aims to smoothen trade, to a degree at least, between the US and UK.

Another focus of this visit will be the environment and climate change.

Energy Secretary Grant Shapps and the President’s Climate Envoy John Kerry will lead talks of the not very catchily titled US/UK Climate Finance Mobilisation Forum.

It’s about trying to help poorer countries tackle climate change.

Members of the forum will brief the King and the President at Windsor Castle at lunchtime.

While President Biden was at the Queen’s funeral, he wasn’t at the King’s Coronation.

He sent his wife, the First Lady Jill Biden in his place.

So it is the first time the two will have met since the Coronation.

Prior to their formal meeting there will be a spot of pageantry.

There will be a marching band and there will be a Guard of Honour, provided by the Welsh Guards.

Like the visit to Downing Street, this element of the trip will also be brief.

It’s expected the president will be at Windsor Castle for an hour or two, before he heads off to Lithuania.

The prime minister heads there on Tuesday morning.