Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Meetings With President of Angola João Manuel Goncalves Lourenço, Minister of Defense João Ernersto dos SantosSecretary of[...]

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met today with President of Angola João Manuel Goncalves Lourenço to advance the growing U.S.-Angola bilateral defense relationship and address regional security issues. They also discussed mutual priorities and concrete next steps the two nations will take to deepen our bilateral relationship. They agreed to prioritize capacity building, maritime security, space, and cyber defense. Secretary Austin thanked President Lourenço for his leadership across the region and Angola as a founding member of the Partnership for Atlantic Cooperation.

Secretary Austin also met with Minister of State and Head of the Military House of the President Francisco Pereira Furtado and discussed plans to advance bilateral security priorities to build on the success of the 2017 Memorandum of Understanding and the 2022 Joint Statement. The two sides agreed to establish an annual high-level defense dialogue to finalize security cooperation agreements and prioritize opportunities to strengthen defense cooperation.