WASHINGTON ¨C The United States and the Marshall Islands agreed to try to reach a deal on U.S. economic assistance this year, a sign of momentum in talks as Washington worries about China¡¯s expanding Pacific influence.
Joseph Yun, U.S. special envoy for Compact of Free Association (COFA) negotiations, was in the Marshall Islands this week for the first in-person talks with the strategic Pacific island country since December 2020. The next talks will be in Washington in late July.
A joint statement said Yun and Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Kitlang Kabua hoped to ink a memorandum of understanding by September with the ¡°aim to complete the Compact talks by late fall or early winter.¡±
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