US-Johnson-Biden Set To Focus On NI Protocol

This afternoon (UK time), UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden will meet in-person for the first time in Cornwall, England for a bilateral summit ahead of the G7 meeting starting tomorrow.

• While Johnson is expected to steer the meeting towards the agreement of a new 'Atlantic Charter', which in 1941 was signed as a forerunner of the NATO alliance, media in the UK has picked up on the expectation that Biden will confront Johnson on the UK's alleged non-compliance with the Northern Ireland protocol under the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
• Biden has frequently talked up his Irish Catholic roots, and spoken about the importance of the Good Friday Agreement. Many in the US, EU, and RoI view the UK's non-compliance with customs checks on goods trade between GB and NI as a threat to the Brexit agreement, and therefor the GFA.
• With the private rebuke from Biden largely expected in Westminster, what could be more damaging for US-UK relations is a potentially public one issued at the G7 summit.