Australia's Albanese confident on AUKUS pact after meeting UK's Starmer

27/9/2025 13:08

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed confidence on Friday that the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal with the U.S. and Britain would move forward, after meeting his British counterpart, Keir Starmer.



Speaking in London, Albanese said the meeting was a chance to discuss the "strongly building" support for AUKUS between the two allies but would not be drawn on the position of U.S. President Donald Trump.



The AUKUS pact, sealed in 2021, aims to provide Australia with nuclear-powered attack submarines from the next decade to counter China's ambitions in the Indo-Pacific region.



Trump's administration is undertaking a formal AUKUS review led by Elbridge Colby, a top Pentagon policy official and public critic of the agreement.



Asked if his meeting with Starmer gave him increased confidence that AUKUS would proceed, Albanese said: "I have always been confident about AUKUS going ahead.