Washington – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that early steps taken by President Biden on issues such as foreign policy and climate change were “incredibly encouraging” for US-UK relations.
‘There have been some important developments in the way the UK, US thinking has come together in recent weeks, and especially on issues such as climate change, on NATO, on Iran, but above all on the ways in which the US UK will work together to address the environmental challenge facing our planet, ‘Johnson said in an interview with Face the Nation. “And there, I think some of the things we’re hearing now about the new US government and the new White House are incredibly encouraging. And we want to work with the president on that.”
Johnson was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after being declared the winners of the November presidential election. The president also spoke to Johnson three days after he was inaugurated, while Mr. Biden “reproduces his intention to strengthen the special relationship between our countries and to revive the transatlantic ties”, according to a summary of the White House call.
Johnson told ‘Face the Nation’ that he was ‘delighted’ at a good relationship with the White House and said he had ‘fantastic talks’ with Mr. Had prayed. The British Prime Minister also said that he was “delighted” that Mr. Biden adopted the slogan “Build Back Better”, especially when it comes to the coronavirus pandemic, although Johnson joked that he used it first.
“This is the right slogan,” he said. “We need to learn from this pandemic. We need to learn how to share information, how to share drugs properly, how to make sure we do not store things like personal protective equipment, as you saw earlier in the pandemic. We need to make sure we distribute vaccines. ‘
Johnson said he hoped the US and UK could work together to learn from the pandemic, and said he supported the Biden government, raising concerns about an investigation. mounted by the World Health Organization in the origin of COVID-19. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement on Saturday that the White House had “questions about the process used to ‘reach earlier findings of the investigation, stressing that it is’ essential’ that the report be independent.” , with expert findings without intervention or change by the Chinese government. ‘
“If you have a zoonotic plague like coronavirus, we need to know exactly how it happened. Indeed, if it is zoonotic, or if it really originated through human contact with the animal kingdom, then this is what is being claimed. But we need to know exactly what happened “Was it in a wet market? Did it come from the bats? Are the bats associated with the pangolins? All of these questions are now a matter of speculation, “Johnson said.” We need to see the data. We need to see all the evidence. I therefore support what President Biden said about it. “
Both the US and the UK are struggling with new strains of the coronavirus, one of which was first identified in the UK, another in South Africa and a third in Brazil. The British variant, B.1.1.7., Is considered more communicable by public health officials, and the emergence of the new strains has raised questions about how effective the vaccines developed to protect against COVID-19 are against them. is.
However, Johnson said he had “great confidence” in the vaccines the UK was using, and that they “had no reason to think they were ineffective” against the new variant.
“This is a very important consideration for us,” he said. ‘One of the characteristics of Oxford AstraZeneca recently confirmed by scientists is that it also reduces transmission between people. There is a 67% reduction in transmission due to the use of these vaccinations. ‘