G7 summit — live: Johnson says Biden ‘a breath of fresh air’ as president touts US vaccine ‘arsenal’

 (REUTERS)
(REUTERS)
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Boris Johnson has said he will not disagree with Joe Biden on “anything” ahead of the pair's face-to-face meeting in Cornwall.

The prime minister and US president have been attempting to cool the rhetoric today after it emerged Washington delivered an “extraordinary rebuke” to London over Northern Ireland.

Earlier, a senior US official said Mr Biden had not come to the UK to lecture Mr Johnson about the protocol and is not looking to be confrontational or adversarial.

“He didn’t come here to give a lecture,” the official, who was unnamed in quotes given to Reuters, said. “He came here to communicate what he believes very, very deeply about peace in Northern Ireland.”

It comes after the Biden administration warned the British government not to imperil peace in Northern Ireland amid fraught Brexit negotiations with the EU which ended without a breakthrough on Wednesday.

On Thursday afternoon during his first trip abroad since taking office in January, Mr Biden met with Mr Johnson and their wives and strolled along the beachfront at Carbis Bay.

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