US pushes security ally Australia to spend more on defense
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked security ally Australia to increase its defense spending in a meeting with Defense Minister Richard Marles on Friday in Singapore.
The defense chiefs also discussed the need to increase U.S. submarine production rates to meet AUKUS targets significantly.
The defense ministers meeting on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, is only the second between the security allies since the Trump Administration took office.
Hegseth had "respectfully" said Australia should increase defense spending, Marles said in an Australian Broadcasting Corporation television interview after the meeting.
Reuters
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