

and Australian service members participating in the largest military exercise between the United States and Australia, Talisman Sabre.Īlso today, the department announced its 43rd drawdown of equipment from DOD inventory for Ukraine since August, 2021. Following this visit, he will then travel to Australia and join Secretary Blinken to meet with their counterparts for the 33rd annual Australia-United States Ministerial Consultations, and then will meet with U.S.

Secretary Austin's visit to Papua New Guinea marks the first visit by a secretary of defense to the country. This morning, Secretary Austin just took off for his eighth visit to the Indo-Pacific region where he'll visit Papua New Guinea and Australia. I have a few items to pass along at the top, and then we'll be happy to get into your questions. This is Sabrina Singh, deputy press secretary. DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY SABRINA SINGH: Hey, good afternoon, everyone.
