Sunak goes on to say that both countries have national security as their highest priority.

He says US leadership and democracy are a crucial factor and the resources the country is able to provide are being decisive.

Referring to the pact agreed today alongside his US counterpart, Sunak says countries like Russia and China are willing to exploit technology.

Rishi Sunak opens his comments by speaking about the knife attack in France.

At least one British child has been injured along with five other people.

Sunak said: "All our thoughts are with the victims after this unfathomable attack.

"We stand ready to offer any assistance that we can," he added.

He goes on to say that the UK-US is at its most important level "for a decade".

"Our values won't change but the challenges have changed," he said.

Image source, Reuters

Biden says today they discussed their unwavering support for the people of Ukraine who are "defending against the most brutal aggression we've seen for a long time at the hands of Russia and Putin".

Biden thanks Sunak for his strong leadership, security assistance and training Ukrainian troops to use weapons and ammunition the two countries have collectively supplied.

"There's no country closer to us than Great Britain," Biden says.

"I'm confident the US and UK will continue to lead the world to greater peace and prosperity."

Biden goes on to say the pair discussed economic partnerships, as a source of strength that anchors everything the two nations do together.

He says by investing in modern technologies they'll be able to better protect the two countries - adding it'll be important for national security.

Research and collaboration is also top of the list, as the pair discussed how to propel initiatives and make sure the values of both nations are aligned.

Biden goes on to say the pair discussed their unwavering support for the people in Ukraine.

Image source, Reuters

President Biden welcomes guests to the press conference.

He begins by mentioning the wildfires in Canada and the air quality on the east coast of the US.

Biden says he spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and said 600 US firefighters are on the ground in Canada.

He welcomes Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the White House before talking about the G7 summit in Hiroshima last month.

He says the pair have had important and positive discussions today to expand co-operation to shape the future for remainder of this century.

The White House news conference is under way, which means we can now report that UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden have agreed on a "first of its kind" economic partnership called the "Atlantic Declaration".

Now the pair have begun speaking we can share the key details about the partnership which we received a little earlier.

Together, the two nations will "establish a new approach", that will allow the UK and US to "move faster and co-operate more deeply", No 10 Downing Street says in a press release.

Addressing the "vulnerabilities across critical technology supply chains" is one of the main goals of the partnership.

It is fair to say though that this not the over-arching UK-US free trade deal that the Conservative Party promised to get when it put forward its manifesto for the 2019 general election.

Stay with us as we bring you what the two leaders have to say about this new declaration.

Chris Mason
Political editor

The two leaders spent 40 minutes talking one-to-one, and 40 minutes together with their teams.

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the White House

The news conference keeps getting later. First it was half-six (UK time). Then quarter to seven. Then 7pm. Now it looks like it’ll be 7:15pm. Ish.

While we wait for this news conference in Washington, it's worth taking a moment to look back at some of Rishi Sunak's predecessors and their visits to the White House.

David Cameron made 10 trips to the US during his six years in office, including four official visits to the White House where he was hosted by President Barack Obama.

Image source, PA Media

Cameron’s successor, Theresa May was a guest there once, meeting President Donald Trump back in 2017.

Image source, EPA

And Boris Johnson was also invited to meet current President Joe Biden in 2021.

The short-lived premiership of Liz Truss didn’t feature an official visit, but she did meet Biden in an official capacity at the UN General Assembly in New York in September 2022.

Current PM, Rishi Sunak, has met President Biden on US soil before, alongside the Australian prime minister in San Diego, but this will be the first time he has set foot in the White House as leader of the UK.

Image source, PA Media

We'll soon be hearing from US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. The pair have been discussing artificial intelligence governance, the war in Ukraine and economic co-operation. We'll get more details when they speak at a news conference shortly.

But for now there's a little bit of waiting. We were initially expecting the press conference at 18:30 BST, but these things seldom keep to time.

You'll be able to watch the press conference live by clicking on the play button at the top of this page. If you look now, you'll see a room full of journalists sitting in front of two empty lecturns - all waiting for the US president and UK prime minister.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest lines.

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the White House

We're heading there now.

Sam Francis
Political reporter

Travelling to the US is a good chance to build a relationship with the most powerful nation on the planet. But domestic storms have a bad habit of following the UK prime minister wherever they go.

Despite being on foreign soil, Rishi Sunak will be expected to field questions at today's White House press conference on a series of problems at home – such as the cost-of-living crisis.

Yesterday, he was asked about the government's legal action against its own Covid Inquiry, which is seeking to withhold some messages between former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and colleagues. While not getting into specifics of the case he said he was personally not worried about being embarrassed by messages seen by the Covid inquiry.

There’s also the issue of Johnson’s resignation honours. There are reports Sunak is set to accept the former PM's list – which is expected to contain several controversial appointments.

Since he left for the States one of Sunak's own MPs was charged with racially abusing a man he allegedly told to "go back to Bahrain".

Alongside the background hum of the general business of government, Sunak faced a curveball from Prince Harry - who yesterday accused the government of being at “rock bottom”.

If you're just joining us or need a catch-up, here's what's been happening:

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is meeting US President Joe Biden at the White House to discuss a range of topics, including artificial intelligence (AI), the war in Ukraine and other areas of common concern.

The two leaders will hold a joint press conference in the next half-hour to brief the media on their talks - they're likely to discuss diplomacy and advancements among other issue.

Ahead of their briefing, in the Oval Office, Sunak echoed statements by Biden saying new technologies provide new opportunities but also leave the two countries vulnerable to adversaries.

Biden said that as Nato allies, the UK and US are working together to provide Ukraine with support and listed the many collaborations the two countries are part of.

Meanwhile, Washington DC is one of several major cities experiencing intense air pollution caused by wildfires in Canada.

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

Rishi Sunak is no stranger to the US. He spent his formative years here, studying, marrying and starting his fortune.

He met his wife, heiress Akshata Murty, while enrolled at Stanford University’s business school between 2004 and 2006 and lived in the US as an employee of London-based hedge funds in the years after.

Campaigning to be prime minister last year, Sunak used his time in the country - specifically California - to try to burnish his business-savvy credentials, saying the experience broadened his perspective and gave him insight into how to jumpstart the UK economy.

“I have lived and worked in California and I actually think it's one of the reasons that I would be good at this job,” he told the BBC last year.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden were speaking to the media ahead of talks in Washington.

After addressing Prime Minister Sunak as "Mr President", the US president laughed and said: "I just promoted you!"

He went on to joke that the pair would be able to solve all the world's problems in "the next 20 minutes".

UK PM Rishi Sunak is staying in Blair House, also known as the President’s Guest House. It’s just across the road from the White House, and has hosted many a foreign dignitary, including Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip in 2007. It’s usually offered to presidents-in-waiting for a few nights before their inaugurations.

Image source, Getty Images

The development is made up of four interconnected town houses. There are 14 guestrooms, each with a full bathroom, three dining rooms, two conference rooms, beauty salon, exercise room and laundry facility - all overseen by 14 staff.

Image source, Getty Images

According to the Blair House's own website, external, the US government purchased the property in 1942 at the request of President Franklin Roosevelt who pointed to the need of official diplomatic housing at the height of World War Two.

Beforehand, US presidents would host high-profile guests at the White House for the first night and they'd then move on to an embassy or hotel for the rest of their stay.

However, as Blair House's website goes on to explain, former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill's walkabouts in the middle of the night concerned Roosevelt's mother:

"Franklin Roosevelt Jr recalls the morning his mother found the prime minister wandering towards the family’s private quarters at 3 am, trademark cigar in hand, to rouse the sleeping president for more conversation. He met Eleanor first, however, who firmly persuaded him to wait until breakfast."

Here's a little bit more of the conversation between Sunak and Biden in the Oval Office.

This wasn't the main event - the two have now gone off to hold their discussions, and will return a bit later for a full press conference.

Although US President Joe Biden wrongly addressed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as "Mr President", he quickly recovered, saying it was great to have Sunak there.

He spoke about then prime minister Winston Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt meeting regularly in Washington DC in the middle of World War Two to strengthen the diplomatic partnership.

Biden said that as Nato allies, the UK and US are working together to provide Ukraine with support.

He listed the many collaborations the two countries are part of, including AUKUS, alongside Australia - as well as the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to 30 years of conflict in Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles.

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak thanks US President Joe Biden for welcoming him to the White House.

He echoes statements made by Biden, saying new technologies provide new opportunities but also leave the two countries vulnerable to adversaries.

Biden recalls anecdotes of former prime minister Winston Churchill walking around the White House around 3am, before the Blair House - where Sunak will be staying - become an official residence for the hosting of diplomatic allies.

"Don't worry, you won't see me there bothering you and the First Lady," Sunak jokes in response.

Biden also says: "We don't have a closer ally than Great Britain."

Sunak, in his response, says that one thing that will not change over time is the strength of the two countries' partnership.

We're now getting some more pictures of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden. The pair are meeting at the White House in Washington, as Sunak's two-day trip comes to an end.

We'll soon be hearing from the two world leaders as they brief the media on their talks - which are likely to span from diplomacy to advancements in artificial intelligence technologies (and how we govern the field).

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the White House

Here’s my view right now. The Oval Office - the president and the prime minister.

President Joe Biden managed to call Rishi Sunak a president before quickly correcting himself. Biden spoke very softly, with prompt cards in front of him.

The prime minister thanked Biden for letting him stay in Blair House, the presidential guest house, saying it’s better than the Downing Street spare room.