Remarks by Vice President Harris and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of the United Kingdom Before Bilateral Meeting | London, United Kingdom

10 Downing Street
London, United Kingdom

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  Well, Vice President, welcome to 10 Downing Street for, I believe, the first time.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Yes, Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  Great to have you here.  I know we’re going to have some good, just, conversations about the global situation, particularly Israel and Gaza, but also our support for Ukraine —

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Yes.

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  — against Russian aggression.  But it’s also fantastic to welcome you to the UK, to the AI Safety Summit.

You have been a leader on this important topic.  Your speech today was incredibly significant.  And I know we’re going to be talking to other leaders tomorrow about how we can work together to ensure that we reap all the incredible benefits of AI but do so in a way that manages the risks and deals with them safely.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Indeed.

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  So, thank you.  And a warm welcome.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Thank you, Prime Minister.  And it’s good to be with you.  It’s good to see you again. 

We first met in Munich —

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  Munich.  Yeah.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  — I believe, four months into your term and had extensive conversations then about our mutual commitment — the United States and the United Kingdom — to Ukraine and to supporting them in this situation where there’s been this unprovoked aggression by Russia. 

And the work that we have been doing is, I believe, really consistent in terms of our mutual commitment to sovereignty and territorial integrity.

I also want to thank you for the position that you and the United Kingdom have taken in terms of what is happening in Israel —

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  Thank you.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  — and with Hamas.

As we have both stated, Hamas is a terrorist organization. And what happened in Israel is horrendous by any measure. 

We both, I believe, have stated quite clearly on behalf of our countries that we do believe that it is important that we stand in the sake and in the name of understanding Israel has a right to defend itself, but we also must ensure that there’s no conflation between the Palestinian people and Hamas, and rules of law, in terms of rule of war, should apply, which means that there should not be an — any intentional targeting of civilians and there should be the — the requirement that we meet the humanitarian needs of the people in that region.

On the issue of AI, I want to thank you for hosting this summit.  It’s good to be with you.  And I look forward to the work that the United States and the United Kingdom will do together.

I think we are doing the important work of providing some leadership around this exciting new technology, recognizing the potential benefits and the potential risks.

So, I look forward to being with you there tomorrow to talk more about that.

Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  Well, it’s great to have you here.  Thank you.

VICE PRESIDENT HARRIS:  Good to be with you.  Thank you.

PRIME MINISTER SUNAK:  Thanks very much.

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