Blinken meets Australian FM Payne, reaffirms deep commitment to peaceful, secure Indo-Pacific

Liverpool [UK], December 12 : US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in Liverpool to reinforce the ongoing efforts to promote peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific.
"Great to meet with my good friend @MarisePayne today. We reaffirmed both our nations' deep commitment to a peaceful and secure Indo-Pacific, COVID-19 economic recovery and resilience, and cooperating to deliver results for our citizens and partners around the region," tweeted Blinken.
Both leaders met on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations' Foreign Ministers meeting held in the UK.
They discussed deepening the US-Australia alliance, the importance of committing to ambitious climate action in the next decade, and the need for like-minded allies and partners to continue to defend, strengthen, and renew democracy around the world, read State Department spokesperson Ned Price statement.
They also expressed concern over Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine and reiterated support for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues without resorting to threats or coercion and emphasized Taiwan's important contributions to global health development.
Both leaders recommitted to the joint efforts in the region and to build back better from COVID-19, added the statement.
They also agreed on the importance of having a Senate-confirmed Ambassador in place in Canberra as soon as possible in light of the scope and scale of shared challenges.