US President Joe Biden will make his first trip abroad to the United Kingdom and then to Belgium in mid-June, the White House announced on Friday.
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Joe Biden will participate in the G7 summit from June 11 to 13 in Cornwall (south-west of England), then to the summit of leaders of NATO countries in Brussels on June 14. In Brussels, he will also participate in an EU / US summit to underline Washington's commitment to a "
strong transatlantic partnership
" based on "
common values
", the US executive said. The White House specifies that it will soon provide more details on this trip, "
in particular on possible additional elements
".
This wording immediately fueled speculation in Washington about a possible meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Joe Biden proposed last week to his Russian counterpart, in a telephone interview, to meet this summer in a third country for a summit aimed at stabilizing relations between the two rival powers, which are at their lowest.
Moscow has expressed interest in this offer, which was however parasitized by sanctions and counter-sanctions exchanged by the two countries, also last week.
Finland and Austria have notably expressed their readiness to welcome it.
