The UK and Australia plan to underline their determination to maintain a defense pact with the United States at a meeting on Mondayandn amid concerns about President-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to the deal.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy and UK Defense Minister John Healey will host their Australian counterparts in London for the annual meeting, known as Aukmin. While much had been planned before last month’s US election, both countries intend to emphasize their “firm commitment” to Aukus, which is named after Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Under the Aukus agreement signed in 2021, the three countries have committed to delivering a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia by the 2030s to counter China’s undersea presence in the Indo-Pacific region. The deal is “one of the most strategically important collaborations in recent decades,” the U.K. government said Sunday in a news release.
Uncertainty about Trump’s approach toward Aukus is largely based on his promises to cut government spending, as well as concerns that he may try to alter the terms negotiated by the current president, Joe Biden.
Even so, Trump’s aggressive stance toward China may prompt him to want to focus more on the pactaccording to Bloomberg Intelligence.
In June, former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who signed the deal with Biden and Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom, He said Trump had expressed a positive opinion toward the Aukus pact during a visit to the United States in May.
Trump’s transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside of regular business hours.
The United Kingdom and Australia will also use the summit to present new security initiatives, including the deployment of a branch of the Royal Navy, the UK Carrier Strike Group, to Australia in 2025 and the expansion of Australian training of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer will be in Norway on Monday to announce plans for a green energy deal with the country before attending a defense summit in Estonia.
