John Bolton in UK to meet Johnson and Brexit hardliners [View all]
Source: The Guardian
John Bolton in UK to meet Johnson and Brexit hardliners
US security adviser expected to urge tougher line on Tehran and Chinese tech firm Huawei
Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor
Mon 12 Aug 2019 14.05 BST First published on Sun 11 Aug 2019 20.34 BST
John Bolton, the hawkish US national security adviser, has started two days of meetings in London with key figures in Boris Johnsons government as the US pitches to steer a post-Brexit UK further away from Europe on a range of issues including trade, the Iran nuclear deal and the role of the Chinese technology firm Huawei.
Bolton is the most senior Trump official to visit since Johnson became prime minister, and the move is seen to have increased the chances of the UK leaving the EU on 31 October without a withdrawal agreement a position more in line with the Brexit policy favoured by the US president.
Bolton will be testing how the UK intends to position itself as a country freeing itself of the shackles of the EU at the G7 summit to behosted by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in Biarritz later this month.
The summit, the first opportunity for Trump to meet Johnson since he became prime minister, is likely to be dominated by transatlantic disagreements over Iran and the value of multilateralism. In an admission that the UK may be edging closer to the US, Macron is not looking for a declaration signed by all seven countries, but coalitions of the willing on specific subjects instead.
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Read more:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/11/john-bolton-arrives-in-uk-to-seek-support-on-iran-and-huawei