President Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday reiterated their commitment to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s ongoing invasion as they agreed to step up cooperation on the challenges their economies face with artificial intelligence, clean energy and critical minerals.

The leaders said the first of its kind agreement, what they call the Atlantic Declaration, will serve as a framework for the two countries to develop emerging technologies, protecting technology critical to national security and other economic security issues.

We will put our values ​​front and center,” Biden said as the two leaders began talks in the Oval Office. He later added at a joint press conference that the agreement will help both countries adapt and upgrade our partnership to ensure our countries remain at the cutting edge of a rapidly changing world.

As part of the statement announced Thursday, the two sides will begin negotiations over the use of UK-sourced minerals critical in the production of electric vehicles eligible for US tax credits. The government has also opened talks with the European Union and struck a deal with Japan that would allow certain critical raw materials for electric cars to be treated as if they came from the United States.

Allies have expressed concern about incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act favoring the North American auto industry. The legislation, one of Biden’s most significant policy victories, invests approximately $375 billion to transition the United States to cleaner cars and energy sources.

Biden and Sunak have already had four

eye in eye

meetings since Sunak became prime minister in October, but the Washington talks offered the two leaders a chance for their longest-lasting interaction to date.

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Sunak reflected on the important conversations their respective predecessors had over the years in the Oval Office and acknowledged that he and Biden faced their own daunting moment. The visit to Washington is Sunak’s first visit since he became Britain’s prime minister in October.

Our economies are experiencing perhaps the biggest transformation since the industrial revolution, as new technologies open up incredible opportunities but also give our adversaries more tools, Sunak said.

The 15-month-old Russian invasion of Ukraine was high on the agenda. The US and the UK are the two largest donors to the war effort in Ukraine, playing a central role in a long-term effort announced last month to train and eventually equip Ukrainian pilots on F-16 fighter jets.

Biden reiterated his confidence that Congress would continue to provide funding to Ukraine if needed, despite some hesitation among Republican leaders about the increasing cost of the war to American taxpayers.

The US and UK stood together to support Ukraine, Biden said at the start of their meeting.

Sunak also pleaded with Biden for UK Defense Secretary Ben Wallace to succeed outgoing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who is due to end his tenure as leader of the 31-member alliance in September. Stoltenberg will meet with Biden in Washington on Monday, and alliance leaders will meet in Lithuania on July 11-12 for their annual summit.

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Asked if it was time for a British leader for NATO, Biden said it was, but that remains to be seen.

We will have to get a consensus within NATO, he said.

Biden also indicated that the two countries have worked side-by-side through some of the most difficult moments in modern history, recalling the meetings Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt held at the White House.

You know, Prime Minister Churchill and Roosevelt met here a little over 70 years ago and they claimed that the strength of the partnership between Britain and the United States was the strength of the free world,” Biden told Sunak. I still think there’s truth to it. that claim.

Sunak wants to make the UK a major player in artificial intelligence and announced that his government will gather politicians, scientists and technical staff for a summit on AI safety in the autumn.

He said it was essential to ensure that paradigm-shifting new technologies are harnessed for the good of humanity.

No country can do this alone,” Sunak said on Wednesday. This will require a global effort.

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Biden said the challenges associated with the advancement of AI technology are enormous.

It’s a limitless capacity and possibility, but we must do it with great care, said Biden, who added that he welcomed the British leadership on the matter.

Sunak’s visit comes as US and British intelligence officials are still trying to pinpoint blame for the breach of a major dam in southern Ukraine, sending floodwaters through cities and over farmland. Neither Washington nor London have officially admitted that Russia blew up the Kakhovka hydroelectric plant.

Sunak said on Wednesday that British intelligence is still reviewing the evidence, but if it turns out to be deliberate, it will mark a new low… an appalling barbarity on the part of Russia.

Russia has used a deliberate active strategy to attack civilian infrastructure throughout this war, he told Washington broadcaster ITV.

The two sides wanted to demonstrate that the relationship between the US and the UK remains as strong as ever, despite the recent political and economic turmoil in the UK. Sunak is one of three British prime ministers Biden has faced since taking office in 2021, and the governments are at odds over Brexit and its impact on Northern Ireland.

Nevertheless, the Biden administration feels that the relationship between the US and the UK has become more stable after Boris Johnson’s sometimes turbulent tenure and Liz Truss’ 45-day premiership.

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I think there is a sense of relief to some extent, not just in the White House, but throughout Washington, that the Sunak administration has been very pragmatic and the UK’s strong commitment to Ukraine and to raising the defense spending, said Max Bergmann, director of the Europe, Russia and Eurasia program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He added that with Sunak there has also been a certain return to pragmatism on economic issues and relations with the European Union post-Brexit.

Sunak tried to make it clear at the press conference that the UK remains as reliable an ally as ever.”

“I know some people have wondered what kind of partner Britain would be after we left the EU,” Sunak said. “I would say judge us by our actions.”

Biden invited Sunak to stay at Blair House, the official presidential guest house on Lafayette Square. Before the US government bought Blair House in 1942, foreign leaders visiting the president often stayed at the White House.

In a lighter moment, the president began to tell the story of how Churchill would wander into the president’s family quarters in the early hours of the pre-Blair House days to rouse the sleeping Roosevelt for conversation. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt allegedly cut off Churchill before he could reach the president.

“Don’t worry,” Sunak intervened. You won’t see me bothering you and the first lady.

Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.