Rishi Sunak said “Britain is back” as he touched down in San Diego to finalize the final stages of Britain’s defense partnership with the United States and Australia. The defense agreement, called AUKUS, was signed 18 months ago between Boris Johnson, Joe Biden and Scott Morrison.

The deal is aimed at delivering nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra as part of a bid to counter China’s influence in the region.

As part of this tripartite agreement, the United States and the United Kingdom will also agree to share secret reactor technologies.

The latest AUKUS meeting will have a slightly different character, however, as Liz Truss, then Sunak, took over from Johnson.

Morrison was also ousted last year when Anthony Albanese’s Labor Party won Australia’s general election.

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During his interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt, the prime minister said: “Britain is back.”

After negotiating the Windsor framework for the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol and meeting his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to discuss resolving the Channel crossing crisis, the 42-year-old British prime minister hopes that the last meeting of AUKUS allows him to achieve another great diplomatic commitment. success.

But AUKUS has yet to cross the line, as Congress has yet to approve the defense deal.

The initial agreement on the deal caused consternation in Paris when AUKUS replaced a separate Franco-Australian deal.

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Sunak also pointed out that AUKUS is a broader plan to increase military spending in the UK.

Ahead of the Prime Minister’s trip to the US, the UK government announced a £5bn increase in defense spending over two years.

Sunak said: “We are investing more in our armed forces over the next two years, billions of pounds more.

“We are increasing our defense spending because I think the world has become more unstable.

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Regarding support for Ukraine, the Prime Minister added: “I think it is important to accelerate and intensify our support for Ukraine.”

Mr. Sunak’s interview with Mr. Holt will air at 6:30 pm EST (22:30 GMT).

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