US President Joe Biden has expressed his regret to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for cancelling his trip to Sydney next week due to ongoing negotiations with Congress on the US debt ceiling. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Hiroshima, where they signed a “climate, critical minerals and clean energy transformation compact” promising to strengthen cooperation across the Pacific in tackling climate change. The deal aims to establish climate and clean energy as the third pillar of the Australia-US alliance, enabling the expansion and diversification of clean energy supply chains, especially as it relates to critical materials. The prime minister argued that action on climate change is an essential part of their alliance and an important component of national security.
The G7 summit is focused on countering Russia and China, with the United States allowing NATO allies to supply F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine, months after the country pleaded for their delivery. The move will greatly bolster Ukraine’s beleaguered air defences, but will likely take months to deliver, with its fighter pilots needing to be trained first. The US has promised F16 fighter jets to help Ukraine fight Russia inside their territory. The US said the fighter jets would be supplied with the usual proviso they are not used to strike Russian territory, to avoid escalating the conflict further. China’s military build-up in the Pacific and threats to invade Taiwan was another common concern among G7 nations, especially Japan, the only Asian member.
Leaders at the G7 are trying to unstitch some of their economic relationship with China, but not break it completely, in a bid to protect sensitive technology. A draft G7 leaders communique says that they do not seek to thwart China’s economic progress and development.