Joe Biden welcomed Rishi Sunak to the White House on Thursday, as the two leaders began a joint press conference following a bilateral meeting in Washington.

Biden, the US president, joked the UK prime minister was “probably tired of meeting” him after several sit-downs between the two leaders in recent months.

Biden said on Thursday the leaders had “important and positive discussions to deepen” the “bilateral economic relationship” between the US and the UK.

“There is no issue of global importance, none, where our nations are not leading together, and where we are not sharing our common values to make things better,” Biden said.

Biden said the two countries were releasing a “new plan to equip our economic partnership for the 21st century”, including working together to strengthen critical mineral supply chains.