There will be roundtable meetings, one-on-one chats and a group photo against a picturesque backdrop. When leaders of some of the world's richest nations meet Friday at the English seaside for a three-day Group of Seven summit, much of the choreography will be familiar.
“Our alliances weren’t built by coercion or maintained by threats,” Mr. Biden said. “They’re grounded on democratic ideals … where the rights of all people are protected. No nation can defeat us as long as we stick to our values.”
Mr. Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrived at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, the only permanent American refueling wing in Europe, as the first stop on their weeklong trip. As Mr. Biden took the stage and started his speech, he quickly interrupted himself.
“Please, at ease,” he told the troops. “I keep forgetting I’m president.”
Mr. Biden is seeking to revamp trans-Atlantic ties, forge a vaccine strategy against the COVID-19 pandemic and unite the world’s most economically advanced democracies to fight Russian and Chinese geopolitical provocations and a rising menace in cyberspace.