Secretary of defense and foreign affairs of the United Kingdom and Australia will be discussed next week, in London and south of Englishstrategy to intensify their collaboration in the field of defense and strengthen commercial relations, it was reported, Friday (31/3/2023).

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defense Secretary Ben Wallace will host the annual UK-Australia (AUKMIN) summit, which will be attended by their counterparts Penny Wong (Foreign) and Richard Marles (Defense and deputy prime minister).

After holding bilateral talks in the British capital, the group will move on Wednesday to Salisbury Plain, in southern England, where they will attend a training session for Ukrainian troops, the UK Foreign Office said in a statement.

The British and Australian militaries, as well as troops from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, New Zealand, Lithuania and the Netherlands participated in a training program to support Kiev in the face of a Russian invasion of Ukraine.

On Thursday, the ministers will hold a new meeting at Spinnaker tower in Portsmouth (south of England), a 170-metre-high observatory built in the port city, after which they will hold a press conference.

In these talks, the long-term cooperation strategy “to promote prosperity in the Indo-Pacific” will be discussed, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasized, as well as ways of cooperation in areas such as environment, security and trade.

“Britain and Australia are the best partners, for a century we have been the staunchest defenders of freedom and democracy,” said Cleverly. (ef)