Prime Minister Liz Truss WON’T hold talks with Joe Biden on his UK visit but WILL speak to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman
- The Prime Minister and US President were due to meet before Queen’s funeral
- Downing Street said a ‘full bilateral meeting’ will take place at UN on Wednesday
- Mr Biden was one of the first world leaders to confirm attendance for Monday
- Said he wanted to deepen the ‘special relationship’ when Truss became PM
Prime Minister Liz Truss will not hold talks with Joe Biden tomorrow as their meeting is postponed until the UN General Assembly on Wednesday.
The talks will no longer take place on Sunday and Downing Street said a ‘full bilateral meeting’ will take place at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday instead.
The US president was due to meet with the Prime Minister before the Queen’s funeral on Monday.
But the Prime Minister is still expected to hold a call with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, on Saturday evening, No 10 said.
Liz Truss also spoke with the UAE president and ruler of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, on Saturday morning, during which he expressed his condolences following the death of the Queen.
Prime Minister Liz Truss (pictured on September 12) will not hold talks with Joe Biden (pictured on August 24) tomorrow as their meeting is postponed until the UN General Assembly on Wednesday
Truss has concluded meetings with her counterparts from Australia and New Zealand at the Government’s Chevening country residence.
The Prime Minister spoke with Australian leader Anthony Albanese and New Zealand’s premier Jacinda Ardern as she kicked off talks with world leaders travelling to the UK for the Queen’s funeral.
Mr Biden was one of the first world leaders to confirm he would be attending the funeral, alongside his wife, Jill.
Several hundred dignitaries from around the world, members of the royal family and key figures from public life will make up the 2,000-strong congregation at Westminster Abbey on Monday.
Joe Biden congratulated Liz Truss on becoming Prime Minister on September 6.
He said he looked forward to deepening the ‘special relationship’ between the US and the UK, as Truss became leader of the Conservative Party.
‘Congratulations to Prime Minister Liz Truss. I look forward to deepening the special relationship between our countries and working in close cooperation on global challenges, including continued support for Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression,’ Biden wrote on Twitter.
Liz Truss (pictured on September 12) has kicked off talks with world leaders travelling to the UK for Queen Elizabeth’s funeral on Monday
President Biden congratulated Liz Truss when she became Prime Minister on September 6
The US president (pictured yesterday) was due to meet with the Prime Minister before the Queen’s funeral on Monday
Truss is said to be less keen on the ‘special relationship’ with the US than some of her predecessors. In the past she has called it ‘special, but not exclusive’.
Biden and Truss have met before. As foreign secretary she accompanied then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson on his visit to the White House last September.
She and Biden also talked when he attended the COP26 conference in Scotland last October.
Truss won the Conservative Party leadership contest on September 5 and was appointed Prime Minister by the Queen at Balmoral Castle the next day – in one of the monarch’s final duties.
Truss and Biden also talked when he attended the COP26 conference in Scotland last October (pictured together with Queen Consort Camilla)
The death of Queen Elizabeth has put everyday politics in the UK on hold as the country has entered a mourning period.
Even before the funeral, Truss is quietly getting to know other world leaders.
She is holding private meetings this weekend with key allies, including the prime ministers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, Irish leader Micheal Martin and President Andrzej Duda of Poland, whose country is in the front line of support for Ukraine.
The planned weekend meeting with President Biden will now be held Wednesday at the UN in New York, Truss’s office said today.
The Prime Minister is still expected to hold a call with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman (pictured on August 20), on Saturday evening, No 10 said
Political historian Anthony Seldon said: ‘The fact that so many leaders from around the world are flooding to London gives the new prime minister ample time for soft diplomacy.
‘Those quiet conversations before and after the funeral which will help her achieve her objective – if it is achievable – of ‘global Britain’.
He said that the unprecedented event has also given the Prime Minister time to plan how she will deal with a series of crises, such as soaring inflation, plummeting national currency and skyrocketing energy bills.
Seldon said: ‘It’s given her space to think with the media off her, to plan.
‘The one thing (a) prime minister most lacks is time to think.’
The Tory leader wants to reassure allies that she will continue the strong political and military support for Ukraine begun under her predecessor, Boris Johnson.
At the UN she is also likely to urge the world’s democracies to work more closely together in what she has labeled a ‘network of liberty’.
Truss also has some bridge-building to do, especially with Biden. The U.S. leader has expressed concerns about the impact of Britain’s departure from the European Union on the delicate peace in Northern Ireland.
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