Kirsty Needham

Australia pledged to remain the South Pacific's largest aid donor on Thursday during security and economic talks with Vanuatu, as Canberra reviews the potential Pacific impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid cuts.

A U.S. Coast Guard cutter crossing the Tasman Sea as part of maritime security cooperation with Australia and New Zealand knew Chinese naval ships were in the area but had no interaction with them, its commanding officer said on Tuesday.

Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong raised concerns with her Chinese counterpart on Friday over inadequate notice given by the Chinese navy of a rare live-fire exercise in international waters between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights.

U.S. security ally Australia, which has provided A$1.5 billion in support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, said on Thursday that Moscow was the aggressor in the conflict and it must be resolved on Kyiv's terms.

Australia's trade minister Don Farrell said on Thursday the country had increased aluminium supply to the U.S. with Washington's approval, addressing a hurdle to Canberra's request for an exemption from U.S. tariffs on aluminium and steel.

Australia's trade minister said its steel and aluminium exports to the U.S. create "good paying American jobs" and are key to shared defence interests, as Canberra presses Washington for an exemption to President Donald Trump's planned tariffs.

Australia has made its first $500 million payment to the United States under the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal ahead of a meeting between their defence heads on Friday in Washington.

Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka will attend a presidential prayer breakfast in Washington on Thursday, the first opportunity for a Pacific Islands leader to press the region's aid and climate priorities with the Trump Administration.

Gender equality will become central to Australia's foreign policy, diplomacy, trade and aid programmers under a new international strategy, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Wednesday in Canberra.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong met her Indian and Japanese counterparts in Washington and said the invitation for Quad foreign ministers to attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration showed an "iron-clad commitment" to close cooperation in the Indo Pacific region.