Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is visiting Vanuatu, has said he will not be signing a landmark security and climate resilience agreement with the Pacific island nation as was expected.

“I wouldn’t expect that it would be signed today, but what we will do is progress it,” Albanese said in a radio interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday morning.

“Vanuatu politics can be very complex,” he said.

In a ceremony last month, Australia initialled a deal worth 500 million Australian dollars ($326.5m) to strengthen economic and security ties with Vanuatu.

The Vanuatu deal is one of two major security agreements Australia had expected to sign with Pacific island neighbours this month, as Canberra seeks to block China from expanding its security presence i

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