Washington – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday that the early steps President Biden has taken on issues such as foreign policy and climate change are “incredibly encouraging” for US-UK relations.
“There have been some important developments in the way the thinking of the UK and the US has come together in recent weeks, and in particular on issues such as climate change, about NATO, about Iran, but especially about the way the US and the US The UK will work together to meet the environmental challenge facing our planet, ”Johnson said in an interview with“ Face the Nation ”. “And I think some of the things we’re hearing from the new US administration and from the new White House are incredibly encouraging. And that’s what we want to work on with the president.”
Johnson was one of the first world leaders to congratulate Mr. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris after being named winners of the November presidential election. The president also spoke with Johnson three days after he was inaugurated, with Mr. Biden expressing his intention to strengthen the special relationship between our countries and revitalize transatlantic ties, summarizing the White House’s call.
Johnson told “Face the Nation” that he is “delighted” to have a good relationship with the White House and said he had “fantastic conversations” with Mr. Biden. The UK Prime Minister also said he is “excited” that Mr Biden has adopted the “Build Back Better” slogan, particularly when it comes to tackling the coronavirus pandemic, although Johnson joked that he used it first.
“It’s the right slogan,” he said. “We have to learn from this pandemic. We have to learn how to share information, how to properly share drugs, how to make sure we don’t hoard things like personal protective equipment, as you saw earlier in this article. the pandemic. We have to make sure we spread vaccines. “
Johnson said he hopes the US and UK can work together to learn from the pandemic, and said he supports the Biden administration and expressed concerns about an investigation. mounted by the World Health Organization in the origin of COVID-19National security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement Saturday that the White House “ has questions about the process used to “ arrive at the early findings of the probe and stressed that it is’ necessary ‘for the report to be independent,’ ” with findings of experts free from intervention or modification by the Chinese government. “
“If you have a zoonotic plague, like the coronavirus, we need to know exactly how it happened. Indeed, if it is zoonotic, if it really arose from human contact with the animal kingdom, then that is claimed. But we have to Know exactly what happened. Was it in a wet market? Did it come from the bats? Were the bats associated with the pangolins? All these questions are now a matter of speculation, “Johnson said. ‘We need to see the data. We need to see all the evidence. So I fully support what President Biden has said about that. ”
Both the US and UK are grappling 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 UK variant, B.1.1.7., Is considered more transferable by public health officials, and the emergence of the new strains has raised questions about the effectiveness of the vaccines developed to protect against COVID-19 against them.
However, Johnson said he has “great confidence” in the vaccinations the UK uses, and that they “have no reason to think they are ineffective” against the new variants.
“That’s a very important consideration for us,” he said. “One of the features of Oxford AstraZeneca recently confirmed by the scientists is that it also reduces transmission between humans. There is a 67% reduction in transmission as a result of the use of these vaccinations.”