MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st February, 2023) UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will hold a two-day meeting with their Australian counterparts, during which the parties will discuss security issues, including training of Ukrainian soldiers, the UK foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
"Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will host their Australian counterparts, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, in London, Salisbury and Portsmouth this week for the annual UK-Australia 'AUKMIN' summit. Following bilateral talks with their opposite numbers on Wednesday, the group will visit Salisbury Plain to see Australian and UK troops training Ukrainian soldiers." the ministry said in a statement.
On Thursday, the ministers will go to the port city of Portsmouth in southern England, where they will discuss strengthening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, as well as issues of security, trade and combating climate change, the ministry added.
In addition, the parties will discuss progress made on the AUKUS partnership between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, which provides for the arming Australia with a fleet of nuclear submarines based on British and American technologies, the statement read.
Last month, Cleverly visited the US and Canada as part of his North America tour, during which he discussed Ukraine's assistance with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly.
Since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Western countries have been providing Kiev with humanitarian, military and financial aid. Moscow has denounced the flow of weapons to Ukraine from its Western allies, saying it adds fuel to the fire.
Moscow has repeatedly warned the West against further involvement in the conflict, while the European Union, the US and NATO have maintained that they are not party to the hostilities despite training Ukrainian soldiers and sending their instructors to Ukraine.
