Remarks by President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron of the United Kingdom Before Bilateral Meeting

6:36 P.M. CEST

 

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Well, it is wonderful to be back with my good friend and partner, David Cameron.  I want to congratulate him, as I did over the phone, on his resounding election victory.  And I look forward to working with him on a whole host of issues in the coming year.

 

This is going to give us an opportunity to discuss a number of particular challenges that require U.S. and United Kingdom leadership.  We’ll be talking about Russia and Ukraine, and the importance of us maintaining the sanctions regime to put pressure on Russian and separatist forces to implement fully the Minsk agreement.  We think that there can be a peaceful, diplomatic resolution to this problem, but it’s going to require that Europe, the United States and the Transatlantic Partnership, as well as the world, stay vigilant and stay focused on the importance of upholding the principles of territorial integrity and sovereignty.

 

We’ll have an opportunity to discuss the effort against ISIL and the situation in Iraq and Syria, and assess what’s working, what’s not, and how we can continue to make progress there in dismantling the infrastructure that ISIL has built, and in promoting the kinds of political inclusion in Iraq and ultimately in Syria that are going to be necessary for a long-term solution.

 

We’ll also have a chance to talk about hotspots like Libya and Nigeria, where, obviously, terrorism has gotten a foothold.  And more affirmatively, we’re going to have an opportunity to continue the discussion bilaterally that we have been having with the other G7 members around issues like trade and climate change, and the importance of U.S. and British leadership on those issues.

 

So I am very much looking forward to this conversation.  We have no closer partner around the globe on a whole host of critical issues.  I would note that one of the great values of having the United Kingdom in the European Union is its leadership and strength on a whole host of global challenges.  And so we very much are looking forward to the United Kingdom staying a part of the European Union because we think that its influence is positive not just for Europe, but also for the world.

 

But, David, again, congratulations.  Looking forward to continued work.

 

PRIME MINISTER CAMERON:  Well, thank you very much.  And it’s good to be back with my friend and close partner, Barack Obama, and working together over the coming years. 

 

As you said, Barack, there are so many issues to discuss at this meeting and bilaterally with our very close partnership, the partnership between Britain and the United States, that special relationship.  But they all really come down to two words:  prosperity and security -- what we want for our people back at home, which is the chance of a job, and also the chance to have greater security.

 

And whether we’re discussing the situation in the Ukraine, the need to fight Islamic extremist terrorism, particularly in Iraq and Syria, but elsewhere around the world, it’s about keeping people safe back at home, where the cooperation between our security and intelligence services and our military is as close as it’s ever been and as effective as it’s ever been.

 

We’ve also got a lot of issues to discuss that really will determine whether we can have successful, strong economies, like the need for these trade deals we were talking about earlier, and also the deal on climate change, which is going to be important for our future prosperity and security.

 

So a lot of issues to discuss tonight, and it’s great to be back together with you addressing them in this bilateral meeting as well as in the bigger G7.  So thank you very much.

 

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thank you, everybody. 

 

                        END                 6:41 P.M. CEST