Joe Biden had tough talk for Vladimir Putin when he addressed US troops stationed in the United Kingdom of Wednesday night.
He referenced his meeting next week with the Russian president, which will cap off his eight-day trip to Europe.
‘I’m meeting with Mr. Putin to let him know what I want him to know,’ Biden said as the crowd of Air Force personnel burst into applause.
Biden is meeting with his Russian counterpart amid rising tension between the two nations. The president has trashed talked Putin before, calling him a ‘killer with no soul,’ and has made it clear he intends to take Putin to task for Moscow’s interference in US elections, its treatment of dissidents and the series of ransomware attacks carried out by Russian hackers.
But, before he meets with Putin, Biden will spend four days in the UK for the G7 summit.
At their arrival on Wednesday night, Joe and Jill Biden received a warm welcome at the base, garnering several rounds of applause. They spoke outdoors as the sun set behind them.
Both Bidens wore face masks but took them off to speak.
President Biden also mentioned his late son Beau, a major in the Delaware Army National Guard. The president often mentions his son when he speaks to service members.
He teared up as he thanked military personnel the Royal Air Force Mildenhall for their service.
‘I wish my major was here to thank you as well,’ he said referencing his late son, who died of brain caner in 2015.
‘You’re the best of our country,’ he added.
He also outlined the goals of his trip and the message he wanted to give to world: ‘The United States is back and the democracies of the world are standing together to face the toughest challenges.’
Biden said during his meetings with fellow leaders, he would focus on COVID, climate change, and on protecting themselves from ‘the growing threat of ransomware attacks…[and] the autocrats who are letting it happen.’
After his G7 meeting, Biden will meet in Brussels with NATO and EU leaders, where the Russian and Chinese threats will top the agenda.
After his remarks, Biden left the stage to shake hands with service members.
Before the president spoke, Jill Biden admonished him to focus when she addressed the troops.
‘Joe pay attention,’ the first lady told the president.
She had just told the service members to sit down. President Biden, standing behind her, turned around to see the troops positioned behind the stage.
That was when the first lady asked chided him to watch her as she addressed Air Force personnel at Royal Air Force Mildenhall.
In her brief remarks, the first lady thanked the troops for their service and touted her Joining Forces initiative – a group she formed with then-first lady Michelle Obama to support families of American troops.
‘I hope that you know how special you are. And we are so grateful for your and your family’s service,’ she said.
Biden and his wife Jill, a university professor, touched down at RAF Mildenhall, Suffolk in Air Force One just after 7.30pm, kicking off the president’s eight-day trip to Europe.
The UK stop also includes face-to-face meetings with the Queen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
After speaking to troops, the Bidens head to Carbis Bay near St Ives, where the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and Canada will gather for three days to discuss the pandemic and climate change among other issues.
Biden is scheduled to meet with Johnson for face-to-face talks Thursday – the first time the two men will have met in person – before the G7 Summit formally gets underway on Friday.
When the summit ends on Sunday, the President and First Lady will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle.
President Joe Biden delivers remarks to U.S. Air Force personnel and their families stationed at RAF Mildenhall, ahead of the G7 Summit
President Biden received several rounds of applause from the service members
President Joe Biden poses with Sydney Glascock, daughter of Air Force Chief Master Sergeant Glascock, before boarding Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk; he gave her a challenge coin
Jill Biden addresses troops as President Joe Biden looks around at the base
Jill Biden admonished husband Joe to pay attention during her speech during her Air Force personnel at Royal Air Force Mildenhall
President Joe Biden waves as he stands next to U.S. Air Force personnel and their families stationed at RAF Mildenhall
Biden will then depart for Brussels where he will attend a NATO summit and a joint US-EU summit before then heading to Geneva for a bilateral showdown with Putin.
In an op-ed for the Washington Post, Biden said that the trip is about ‘realising America’s renewed commitment to our allies and partners’ as he attempts to build bridges with Britain and the EU after some leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel clashed with his predecessor Donald Trump.
The Republican president engaged in a bitter trade row with the EU and slammed NATO members for failing to spend more on defense – sparking fears that he would pull the US out of the military alliance and embolden Russian activity in Ukraine and eastern Europe.
Trump also formally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement – both negotiated by Barack Obama. One of Biden’s first acts as President was to rejoin the climate accord and reopen nuclear talks with the Iranian government, as he sought to reverse the actions of the previous administration.
The White House has said that Biden will meet with Johnson to ‘affirm the special relationship between our nations’ – a term which the prime minister reportedly dislikes because it is ‘too needy’.
Whitehall is understood to have viewed the President’s decision to make the UK his first overseas destination as a major diplomatic victory for Johnson.
The Prime Minister has lavished praised on Biden since he won power in the election last year, in the hope of striking a new free trade deal with the US.
However, there are concerns that he and the President may not get along, after Democratic sources previously questioned whether Johnson was an ‘ally’.
Johnson had sought close relations with Trump, causing Biden to call him a ‘physical and emotional clone’ of the controversial Republican president.
Johnson faced fierce domestic criticism over his relationship with Trump, but has defended the ties and has insisted that prime ministers should always have the ‘best possible’ ties with sitting US presidents.
There has also been speculation Johnson and Biden could struggle to work together because of the Prime Minister’s past criticism of Barack Obama, in whose administration Biden served as vice president.
Biden is also expected to put pressure on the UK not to renege on the Northern Ireland Brexit Protocol in a bid to preserve the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. US concerns about the province’s trade status could even derail efforts to strike an Anglo-US trade deal.
National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the BBC: ‘President Biden believes and has said that the Northern Ireland Protocol, as part of the agreement between the UK and the European Union, is critical to ensuring that the spirit, promise and future of the Good Friday Agreement is protected.
‘That being said, of course the UK and EU need to work out the specifics and the modalities on that, need to find some way to proceed that works both for the EU and the UK. But whatever way they find to proceed must, at its core, fundamentally protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and not imperil that.
‘And that is the message that President Biden will send when he is in Cornwall.’
However, there were positive signs in March of the ‘special relationship’ warming up after Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry visited London for talks with Johnson. The positive trend continued in May when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington has ‘no closer partner’ than the UK.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden disembark from Air Force One as they arrive at RAF Mildenhall ahead of the G7 Summit
Biden will address troops at RAF Maidenhall
President Biden is kicking off an eight-day trip to Europe, first lady Jill Biden will be with him for the UK portion
Air Force One carrying U.S. President Joe Biden lands at RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall as he arrives ahead of the G7 Summit, near Mildenhall, Suffolk
Military personnel on a roof at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk, before the arrival of US President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden
Photographers take pictures behind a fence of RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden, near Mildenhall, Suffolk
A man stands on top of his car as he waits for the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden in Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall
Plane spotters take pictures of an airplane at RAF (Royal Air Force) Mildenhall ahead of the arrival of U.S. President Joe Biden
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill left the White House on Wednesday on the way to Cornwall where they will meet Boris Johnson and attend the G7, before a meeting with the Queen and his summit with Vladimir Putin
President Biden brushes a cicada from his neck as he and Jill board Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base
Surfers enjoy the waves as a Royal Navy ship is seen, as security preparations are underway for the G7 summit, near St Ives
Preparations remain ongoing ahead of the G7 summit in Carbis Bay later this week. A Royal Navy vessel is pictured off the coast of Cornwall on June 8
The mini-village built near Cripplesease, near St Ives, to house and feed the security needed for the G7 Summit this weekend
Left: Security patrol a railway line ahead of the G7. Right: Police and military scuba-divers preparing for the summit
Venue for meeting with Boris: The Presidnet and Prime Minister will meet at St Michael’s Mount, pictured on Tuesday as United States Marine Corps (USMC) Osprey helicopters from Biden’s entourage practice their approach
Prime Minister Boris Johnson pictured arriving at Newquay Airport ahead of the G7 summit, which begins on Friday
Boris Johnson and Grant Shapps view the LauncherOne at the Spaceport at Newquay Airport ahead of the G7 Summit
An RAF Giraffe agile multibeam radar system is set up near the beach in Cornwall ahead of the G7 Summit
A 400-strong contingent of Secret Service agents and support staff are due to arrive for the summit being hosted by Boris Johnson and held in the tiny Cornish resort of Carbis Bay. President Biden is believed to be staying in the Tregenna hotel
Police continue their checks in Carbis Bay, Cornwall as world leaders gather to discuss the pandemic and climate change
Armed British police land on Carbis Bay beach early on Tuesday morning as security teams practice ahead of the summit
Biden will join others from the G7 group of leading economies in Carbis Bay on Friday, where Devon and Cornwall Police are expecting climate protests.
Johnson plans to use the summit to urge the members – also including Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy – to ‘defeat’ Covid-19 by helping to vaccinate the world by the end of next year.
The White House said in April when it confirmed the trip to Europe that Biden will ‘highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalizing the Transatlantic relationship, and working in close cooperation with our allies and multilateral partners to address global challenges and better secure America’s interests’.
During an official visit to the UK, Blinken said that the ‘special relationship’ is ‘enduring’, ‘effective’ and ‘dynamic’ as well as being ‘close to the hearts of the American people’.
Speaking at a press conference in Downing Street alongside Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Blinken said: ‘It is also the 75th anniversary of Winston Churchill’s famous speech at Westminster College in Missouri where he described the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States and how vital it is for our two countries and many others around the world.
‘Three quarters of a century later, that Special Relationship is enduring, it is effective, it is dynamic and it is close to the hearts of the American people. The United States has no closer ally, no closer partner, than the United Kingdom and I am very glad for the chance to say that again here today.’
The President’s security team for the Summit is reportedly so vast they will have to stay in more than 50 hired luxury camper vans because there is not enough accommodation.
The recreational vehicles have been delivered to St Mawgan airbase near Newquay, 20 miles from where the meeting of leaders takes place in the tiny Cornish resort of Carbis Bay at the weekend.
A 400-strong contingent of Secret Service agents and support staff will be at the summit, but with thousands of holidaymakers already in the area, almost every hotel and B&B in a 30-mile radius of the summit has been booked.
Meanwhile, video footage showed two Sea King and three V-22 Osprey helicopters soaring above Cornwall and Devon as they practiced the route the President will take from the airbase to Tregenna Castle Resort, St Ives, after Air Force One lands at RAF Mildenhall and then Newquay airport on Wednesday.
Some 1,000 police will be staying on a cruise liner docked in Falmouth harbour and others will stay in RVs currently parked up at the RAF airbase near Newquay.
It comes after a long line of caravans clogged up the A30 on Monday as holidaymakers made their way to the southern-most point of England. One photograph shared on social media showed heavy traffic that had been ‘crawling’ for around 20 minutes near the Devon-Cornwall border.
Police officers and security stand by erimieter barriers erected in Carbis Bay, Cornwall, ahead of the G7 summit
Police officers patrol on motorcycles in Carbis Bay, ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall
The President is scheduled to meet Boris Johnson for face-to-face talks tomorrow – the first time the two men will have met – before the summit formally gets underway on Friday. The PM pictured in Downing Street’s garden at a reception for teachers
More than 50 of the RVs (pictured) – have been delivered to RAF air base St Magwan which is 20 miles from Carbis Bay where word leaders will meet for the G7 summit at the weekend
The British armed forces have set up a mobile radar station at the National Trust car park in Godrevy near St Ives
Large scale protests took place in London and elsewhere when Mr Trump visited the UK. The ex-president is pictured alongside Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in July 2018
The US aircraft flew into Cornwall on Monday evening ahead of the meeting of world leaders this weekend
Two Sea kings (one is pictured) and three MV 22 Ospreys fly into Carbis Bay, Cornwall on Monday evening
Meanwhile for the summit, some 30 vehicles have been leased from a Somerset company called Empire RV, which usually supplies luxury vehicles for film shoots and Grand Prix events.
The US camper vans are so large that the company warns many can only be driven by one of their experienced staff and are not available for self-drive hire. The most luxurious ones – some the size of an articulated lorry – can sleep up to eight people and come equipped with satellite TV and other comforts.
The RV sare expected to be driven to the Tregenna Hotel in Carbis Bay where the president is due to stay during the three-day conference. The castle boasts 98 bedrooms and is the grandest hotel in the county, featuring a 72-acre estate and an 18-hole golf course.
The US motor homes have been rented for £2,500 each for a week by the US Embassy in London and include the 45ft long former RV used by Jensen Button when he was racing in Formula 1.
A spokesman for Bristol based Empire RV said they had set up a mini village at the St Mawgan airbase.
A helicopter, which is dubbed Marine One when the US president is onboard, practised landing on the golf course at the Tregenna Castle Resort – where President Biden and the other leaders will stay – on Monday.
Pilots familiarising the route they will take after Air Force One lands at Newquay Airport later this week have taken to the skies above Cornwall in recent days. Three US Marine Osprey aircraft have been seen over St Michael Mount and the Carbis Bay area.
The aircrafts’ purpose is to fly White House staff during the President’s trips abroad. They also transport Secret Service agents that follow Marine One in case the helicopter goes down.
Ospreys were seen over Haldon Hills near Exeter at 8pm on Monday, where it is thought they may have just left Exeter Airport. By 8.40pm the aircraft were spotted landing at Tregenna Castle Resort.
The helicopters were seen landing at Carlyon Bay, St Austell, at 9.45pm, before descending onto Tregenna Castle Resort at 10.15pm. The aircraft were brought to the UK on the US Air Force’s Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.
They were offloaded at the Royal Navy airbase Culdrose, near Helston, on Sunday. The impressive US-military aircraft flew high over the steep sand dunes of Hayle beach, St Ives, at around 9.30pm on Monday.
Dilyn’s beach lockdown: How the prime minister’s pooch will not be allowed to run along the sand during the G7 summit
Boris Johnson’s dog Dilyn could be locked inside during the G7 summit – because there is a ban on dogs on the beach nearby.
Strict Cornish rules for bathing beaches means dogs are not allowed in case they foul in the water or shoreline.
Guidelines are set by the local council and people caught flouting them can be slapped with a fine.
Because Carbis Bay has premier ‘Blue Flag’ status for water cleanliness it, along with a handful of other Cornish beaches, has even more stringent rules than most.
Dogs are banned from the beach at Carbis Bay between 8am and 5pm from Easter until September 30.
Boris Johnson’s dog Dilyn could be locked inside during the G7 summit – because there is a ban on dogs on the beach nearby
Local dog owner Len Fizdark, 38, from nearby Lelant, said: ‘All the local people know the rules, but people visiting the area sometimes need to be reminded.
‘It sounds like Dilyn has reached a kind of Waterloo moment! He won’t be able to do his business on Carbis Bay during the day – it doesn’t matter if the PM picks it up or not, it’s not allowed.
‘Boris will have to do walkies somewhere else.’
Cornwall Council recently streamlined rules for dogs exercising on their beaches as there were different rules for almost every beach.
Anyone caught breaking the rules – which only apply in the summer months – can be hit with a £100 fine.
Boris, 56, and his wife Carrie, 33, adopted rescue dog Dilyn in 2019 after moving into No 10.
The Jack Russell-cross pup – which faced near-certain death after being abandoned by a Welsh farmer – now splits his time between Downing Street and the PM’s country retreat Chequers in Buckinghamshire.
Carrie tweeted at the time they adopted Dilyn: ‘Thanks to the wonderful Eileen from @FOAWales who rescued Dilyn after she got a tip off that he was to be dumped by a puppy dealer because he was born with a crooked jaw.
‘Eileen fixed his little jaw & saved his life. She is a hero.’
Carrie’s first official duties as Mrs Johnson! Newlywed will meet First Lady Jill Biden for tea and tour St. Michael’s Mount in Cornwall ahead of the G7 summit
America’s First Lady will meet with newlywed Carrie Symonds during her trip to the UK this week for the G7 summit, the White House has announced.
In a statement released this afternoon, it was confirmed that President Joe Biden’s wife Jill, 70, will enjoy a visit with the new Mrs Johnson, 33, over tea on Thursday.
Jill, a university professor, and Carrie, a former Tory aide, will then tour St. Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall, where the G7 summit is being held on Friday.
Last week, Buckingham Palace announced that the First Lady and her husband President Biden will also meet with the Queen at Windosr Castle on June 13.
America’s First Lady (pictured left) will meet with newlywed Carrie Symonds (pictured right) during her trip to the UK this week for the G7 summit, the White House has announced
Big day! Boris Johnson and Carrie married in a private Catholic ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on May 29, with a small group of family and friends present
‘The President and First Lady will meet with The Right Honorable Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and Mrs Carrie Johnson,’ the statement from the First Lady’s office read.
‘The First Lady and Mrs Johnson will meet separately over tea and then tour St. Michael’s Mount off the coast of Cornwall.’
This weekend, when Mrs Johnson joins her new husband Boris at the G7 Summit, will be their first major engagement as a married couple.
Carrie will be in charge of all the leaders’ spouses, including France’s First Lady Brigitte Macron, 68, Joachim Sauer, 72, husband of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, 46, wife of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill left the White House on Wednesday on the way to Cornwall where they will meet Boris Johnson and attend the G7, before a meeting with the Queen
Boris and Carrie married in a private Catholic ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on May 29, with a small group of family and friends present.
They proceeded with a small reception in the Downing Street garden, where an official photograph of the bride and groom was taken.
The couple have already sent save-the-date cards for a wider celebration on July 30 next year. The couple’s one-year-old son Wilfred attended the small wedding in the cathedral where he had previously been baptised.
The bride wore a rented long lace gown and a floral headband. She has taken the Prime Minister’s surname and is now known as Mrs Johnson.
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It is understood Mrs Johnson was unhappy that an unofficial snap, presumed to have been taken by a guest, circulated on social media. Downing Street declined to comment on the timing of the wedding.
Meanwhile, President Biden is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Boris for face-to-face talks tomorrow – the first time the two men will have met in person – before the summit formally gets underway on Friday.
When the summit ends on Sunday, the President and First Lady will meet the Queen at Windsor Castle.
Mr Biden will then depart for Brussels where he will attend a NATO summit and a joint US-EU summit before then heading to Geneva in Switzerland for a bilateral showdown with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an article for the Washington Post, Mr Biden announced that the trip is about ‘realising America’s renewed commitment to our allies and partners’ as he attempts to mend relations with Britain and the EU.
His predecessor Donald Trump engaged in a bitter trade row with the EU and slammed NATO members for failing to spend more on defence – sparking fears that he would pull the US out of the alliance.
The Republican president also angered the international community after he formally withdrew the US from the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Agreement – both negotiated by Barack Obama. One of Mr Biden’s first acts as President was to rejoin the climate accord and reopen nuclear talks with the Islamic Republic.
Mr Biden also said that he would meet with Mr Johnson to ‘affirm the special relationship between our nations’ – a term which the British premier reportedly told the President that he hates because it is ‘too needy’.
