The Latest: Pompeo: Look forward to testifying about Russia

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The Latest on a meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area between U.S. and Australian officials (all times local):

11:30 a.m.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he looks forward to testifying before Congress about the U.S. relationship with Russia.

Pompeo said at a news conference with Australian officials in the San Francisco Bay Area on Tuesday that history will show the world benefited from President Donald Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Pompeo is scheduled to testify before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday. He said he would discuss the Trump administration’s unequaled efforts to push back against Russia.

While standing next to Putin, Trump last week openly questioned his own intelligence agencies’ conclusions that Moscow tried to tip the scales of the 2016 election in his favour. The remarks sparked widespread criticism, including from members of Trump’s own party.

Pompeo, Defence Secretary James Mattis and Australia’s foreign and defence ministers reaffirmed their commitment to denuclearizing North Korea and touted the strong relationship between the two countries during a joint news conference at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

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12 a.m.

U.S. talks with North Korea and trade tensions with China are among the topics U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and U.S. Secretary of Defence James Mattis are expected to discuss with their Australian counterparts at a two-day meeting in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Pompeo, Mattis, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne are scheduled to hold a news conference on Tuesday at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University — the second day of the gathering.

The annual meeting between the two countries always includes discussions about security.

The U.S. Department of State says this year’s talks will focus on threats in the Indo-Pacific region and co-operation to defeat Islamic State militants.