US hosts Australian defense, foreign ministers for 2+2 meeting

WASHINGTON / ISTANBUL

US Secretaries of State and Defense Marco Rubio and Pete Hegseth hosted their Australian counterparts on Monday for bilateral talks that are widely expected to focus on China.

The meeting between Rubio, Hegseth and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defense Minister Richard Marles marks 40 years of Australia-United States Foreign Affairs and Defense Minister consultations.

Rubio lauded what he called the "incredibly strong alliance" between Washington and Canberra, saying Australia "is our only ally that has fought with us in every war" over the past 50 years.

"This is a very strong partnership. It's a strong alliance, and what we want to do is continue to build on it. We think we have a lot of momentum behind this alliance," he said. "We truly have no better friend."

The top US diplomat lauded a trilateral collective security group that also includes the UK, saying AUKUS "is full steam ahead," and referred to what he called a "landmark" agreement on critical minerals that was signed in October.

"To build our economies and to prosper as economies, we have to have critical mineral supplies and supply chains that are reliable and that are diverse, and not overly invested in one place where they can be used as leverage against us or our partners of the world," Rubio said.

Marles noted that Australia's "most important relationship" is the one with the US, emphasizing it as the "cornerstone of Australian strategic and foreign policy," according to a transcript.

"It is very much full steam ahead in terms of the alliance, in terms of the progress on AUKUS, in preparing ourselves for the establishment of the Submarine Rotational Force – West at the end of 2027," he added, referring to the AUKUS pact, signed in September 2021 by the US, the UK, and Australia for Canberra to receive Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines for the Royal Australian Navy.

The US and Australia "invest in each other. We invest in the region’s security, and we boost each other’s prosperity, whether that’s through investment in critical minerals, critical technology, Australian superannuation or of course, AUKUS," Wong also said.

While none of the officials specifically mentioned China, Rubio's comments appeared to be a reference to Beijing, which has pulled back on critical mineral export restrictions that sent shockwaves across the globe until they were eased following a bilateral meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the end of October.

In a separate meeting with his Australian counterpart Wong, Rubio reaffirmed that the US has “no better friend, partner, or ally than Australia,” and noted progress in implementing the Critical Minerals Framework signed by Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in October, according to the State Department.

"Secretary Rubio and Foreign Minister Wong also discussed their shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, emphasizing cooperation to combat online scam operations and supporting further strategic infrastructure projects across the Pacific," it added.