On March 22, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron affirmed that the country will continue to cooperate with the US regardless of who becomes President after the election next November.
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| From left to right: Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the AUKUS Summit in March 2023 in California. (Source: AFP) |
The statement was made by Mr. Cameron when asked if Donald Trump's election as US President would affect the Australia-UK-US (AUKUS) trilateral security treaty, amid concerns that the treaty could collapse.
Reuters quoted a press conference in Adelaide, Australia, after meeting with his counterparts from the host country with Defense Minister Grant Shapps, Foreign Minister Cameron said: "What we will do, and I am sure the Australian government will do, is to cooperate with whoever becomes President of the United States."
Earlier on March 21, Australia said it would spend billions of dollars on ports, shipyards and factories at home and in the UK to build nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS security treaty, and chose British group BAE Systems to build these ships.
Regarding the US transfer of Virginia-class nuclear submarines to Australia under the AUKUS agreement, at a press conference on the same day, Pentagon deputy spokeswoman Sabrina Singh affirmed that Washington's commitment to AUKUS is "unwavering".
The statement was in response to a reporter's question that there were concerns that the transfer of submarines to Australia could be delayed, as the Biden administration has reduced its budget request for the sector.
According to Ms. Singh, the above issue depends on the budget approval process of the US Congress, which has not yet been passed, and emphasized that the faster the US legislature approves, the more likely it will meet the AUKUS timeline.
The AUKUS agreement was signed between President Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in September 2021, Washington will sell three Virginia-class nuclear submarines to Canberra early next decade.
It is expected that the first Virginia submarine will be delivered by the US to Australia in 2033, the second in 2036 and the third in 2039.
In addition, Canberra and London will cooperate to build a new class of submarines called SSN-AUKUS, based on a British next-generation design, built in the UK and Australia with advanced US technology. The Australian military estimates that this project could cost $245 billion by 2055.
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