{O/C} Now to a quadrilateral meeting between Indo-Pacific leaders in Tokyo where U.S. President Joe Biden garnered support for halting Russia's aggression in Ukraine.
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A noticeably new face here -- newly-installed Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who took the Australian helm just yesterday.
Then it was down to business and the American knives were out for Russian President Vladimir Putin for his protracted Ukraine invasion.
{Soundbite} JOE BIDEN, U.S. President: We're navigating a dark hour in our shared history. The Russian brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine has triggered a humanitarian catastrophe. And innocent civilians have (been) killed in the streets, and millions of refugees are internally displaced as well as exiled. And this is more than just a European issue. It's a global issue.
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But compounding the snags was Biden's blunt statement yesterday about intervening militarily should Beijing invade Taiwan. Today, Biden denied a U.S. policy change towards the renegade state.
{Soundbite} The policy has not changed at all. I stated that when I made my statement yesterday.
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Among the new initiatives announced were a new effort to provide paediatric COVID vaccines to countries in need as well as a programme to help nations amp up security around their territorial waters.
On the sidelines of the summit, U.S. President Joe Biden also held bilateral talks with Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in an effort to amicably smooth out their differences over the Ukraine crisis.
{Soundbite} And the U.S. and India will continue consulting closely on how to mitigate these negative effects.
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This, in addition to bilateral talks with the host, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, yesterday.
The leaders' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific remained iron-clad following discussions about the Ukraine crisis as well as countering China's burgeoning sphere of influence in that region.
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