Obama at Summit in China Reaffirms Ties With United Kingdom
President Obama holds first meeting with UK's new prime minister
HANGZHOU, CHINA -- Emerging from his first meeting with Theresa May since the British prime minister took power earlier this summer, President Barack Obama reaffirmed America's close bilateral relationship with the United Kingdom.
"The prime minister continues to be a steadying influence during a time of transition," Obama said. "The bottom line is, is that we don't have a stronger partner anywhere in the world than the United Kingdom. And despite the turbulence of political events over the last several months, we have every intention to making sure that that continues."
In the wake of the Brexit referendum earlier this summer, Obama pledged to develop a new trade relationship with the UK.
"It will not simply endure, but it will continue to grow stronger with time," he said. "The vibrant economic partnership between our countries will continue as the UK gains further clarity on its new relationship with the EU. Our two countries will be discussing ways in which we continue to sustain and strengthen our trade and investment ties."
As for Prime Minister May, she reiterated that her government "respects" the decision of voters to leave the European Union, and there will be no second referendum.
"Brexit does indeed mean Brexit," May said. "On the 23rd of June, the people in the UK voted for the UK to leave the European Union. The government respects that decision. We respect the wishes of the people, and we will put that into practice. So there will be no second referendum, no attempt to turn the clock back, no attempt to try and get out of this. The UK will be leaving the European Union.
Obama is encouraging ongoing U.S.-Russian negotiations at the G20 to strike a lasting ceasefire that'd ground Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's air force so humanitarian aid can reach suffering children, women and innocent civilians.
The president said Secretary of State John Kerry and his counterpart, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, "have been working around the clock, as well as a number of other negotiators, to see what would a real cessation of hostilities look like that could provide that humanitarian access and provide people in places like Aleppo relief."
But after previous ceasefire agreements in Syria haven't lasted, the president remains skeptical.
"We're not there yet, and, understandably, given the previous failures of cessations of hostilities to hold, we approach it with some skepticism, but it is worth trying," he said. "To the extent that there are children and women and innocent civilians who can get food and medical supplies and get some relief from the constant terror of bombings, that's worth the effort, and I think it's premature for us to say that there is a clear path forward, but there is the possibility at least for us to make some progress on that front."
Obama also downplayed a verbal kerfuffle at the airport between White House and Chinese officials, saying that U.S. values don't change when he travels abroad, even if host countries may be put off by the footprint traveling with the president.
"We've got a lot of planes and a lot of helicopters and a lot of cars and a lot of guys, and if you're a host country, sometimes it may feel a little bit much," Obama conceded. "We don't make apologies for pushing a little bit harder when it comes to press access, and that's been the case from my very first state visit here, and we don't always get everything that we'd like to see, but we think it's important for us to at least stand up for those values."
The president insisted the episode does not distract from his positive talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on climate change and other bilateral issues.
"The bilateral discussions that we had yesterday were extremely productive and continue to point to big areas of cooperation. When I bring up issues like human rights, there are some tensions there that perhaps don't take place when President Xi meets with other leaders, but that's part of our job, that's part of what we do," he said. "And so I wouldn't over-crank the significance of it."
Later in the day, while meeting with Turkish president Tayyip Erdogan, Obama condemned the violence produced by a failed coup attempt in Turkey earlier this summer, reassuring Erdogan of America’s commitment to stand with its NATO ally.
Obama pledged to work with Erdogan to investigate the coup as the leaders reaffirmed their shared aim to defeat terrorism.
"I have assured him that our justice department and my national security team will continue to cooperate with Turkish authorities to determine how we will make sure that those who carried out these activities are brought to justice," Obama said, adding that the duo also discussed humanitarian support for Syrians fleeing the war-torn country, and praised Erdogan’s government for taking on a lead role in the refugee crisis.
Erdogan said operations are underway to respond to the coup are "within the framework and rule of law." He said that his government has submitted documents and his minister of justice will travel to the U.S. to collaborate with Americans on the investigation.
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