Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull looking forward to meeting Donald Trump

Canberra: Australia's prime minister says he is looking forward to meeting face-to-face soon with President Donald Trump three months after the pair's heated telephone conversation over an Obama-era refugee deal.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was speaking to reporters at the al-Minhad air base in the United Arab Emirates today after meeting in Afghanistan with Defense Secretary James Mattis and greeting Australian troops in the Middle East ahead of Veterans' Day commemorations.

Turnbull met in Sydney at the weekend with US Vice President Mike Pence, whose visit was intended to smooth over any lingering hard feelings after the prime minister's contentious phone call to Trump on January 28 over a refugee resettlement deal struck by the previous Obama administration.

Turnbull said today he will announce his Trump visit "very shortly.