MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Wednesday was unable to clinch an ambitious defense treaty with Papua New Guinea during a visit to the country, a week after he failed to land a security pact with another South Pacific island neighbor, Vanuatu , aimed at curbing China’s influence in the region.

The diplomatic setbacks come ahead of his potential first meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump next week where regional security will be on the agenda.

Albanese had announced that the bilateral treaty with Papua New Guinea would be signed during his three-day visit to the country’s capital of Port Moresby that ended Wednesday.

But a Papua New Guinea Cabinet meeting scheduled for Monday to endorse the treaty never took place.

Instead of signing the tre

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