Russia’s chilling warning to Anthony Albanese after PM considers boots on the ground in Ukraine
Russia has issued a chilling warning to Australia of “grave consequences” as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese considers an escalation.
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Russia has issued a chilling warning to Australia of “grave consequences” as Anthony Albanese considers sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine.
The Russian embassy in Canberra has warned that such a plan is “unacceptable” and that the Prime Minister should “avoid trouble” by dumping the idea.
On Sunday, the Mr Albanese confirmed he had held fresh talks with the British Prime Minister about Australia joining a peacekeeping force in the event of a ceasefire in the Russia-Ukraine war.
But in a statement first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, Russia has now warned that Australia joining the so-called coalition of the willing would entail grave consequences.
“Once again, Western boots on the ground are unacceptable for Russia, and we will not remain passive observers. To those inclined to construe the above as a threat: it is not; it is a warning,” the statement says.
“Russia has no intention to harm Australians, and Canberra can easily avoid trouble by simply refraining from irresponsible adventurism in the zone of the special military operation.
“Russia has repeatedly made it clear that foreign military presence in Ukraine is totally unacceptable.
“Canberra remains firmly on the side of war along with those in Europe who are betting on continuing and escalating the conflict despite encouraging shifts towards peace negotiations.”
PM considers peacekeepers
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer revealed over the weekend that he “spoke to the Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese this morning,” the UK leader’s office said on Saturday.
“He welcomed Prime Minister Albanese’s commitment to consider contributing to a Coalition of the Willing for Ukraine and looked forward to the Chiefs of Defence meeting in Paris on Tuesday,” a spokesman said.
In defiance of US President Donald Trump’s public dressing down of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for being “disrespectful” to the US, the British Prime Minister is leading talks to support Ukrainians and prepare a peacekeeping force.
The clash between Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky was followed this week by President Trump pausing all US military aid and intelligence-sharing with Kyiv before Russia conducted a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Asked about the discussions in Canberra on Sunday, the Mr Albanese said he had a “very constructive discussion with the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, last night.”
“We did discuss the issue of Ukraine and the coalition of the willing, as he has put it, going forward,’’ he said.
“There will be a meeting of chiefs of Defence in Paris on Tuesday. Australia will send a senior representative to that meeting to discuss, going forward, both of our nations are very clear about our support for Ukraine and it of course is too early — you can’t have peacekeeping forces without having peace.”
Mr Albanese said it was “too early” to say exactly what form that contribution would be.
“But I certainly have said, very clearly, publicly, repeatedly, that we would give consideration to participating in any peacekeeping mission in the Ukraine,” he said.
“And on Tuesday, Australia will participate in this meeting of chiefs of Defence Forces or their representatives.”
Blue beret UN peacekeeping force
Government sources say if Australia does contribute to a peacekeeping force they would go in the “blue beret” of the UN peacekeeping force.
Mr Starmer has proposed the deployment of around 30,000 European peacekeeping troops in Ukraine.
Mr Albanese flagged the prospect of Australia sending peacekeeping troops to Ukraine this week, declaring he was “open” to considering any requests for help.
“Now Australia stands ready to assist. We have contributed $1.5 billion with $1.3 billion for military assistance directly,” he said.
“There’s discussion at the moment about potential peacekeeping. And from my government’s perspective, we’re open to consideration of any proposals going forward, as Australia has historically played an important role in areas including in Africa, in Cyprus, in a range of peacekeeping areas.”
Duttton won’t support boots on the ground
In reaction to Mr Albanese’s comments on Sunday, Mr Dutton said he did not support putting Australian troops on the ground despite being “honest and upfront in our support and very proud of our support of Ukraine from day one.”
That’s a serious barrier to sending Australian troops as part of a peacekeeping force on the eve of an election, considering the government could be entering caretaker mode within days.
“We should continue to provide support to Ukraine. We have been involved in training and providing support to Ukraine soldiers and I think that should continue,’’ Mr Dutton said.
“In terms of if we should have boots on the ground, in Ukraine, I don’t see that. I think the Europeans have that task but what Donald Trump pointed out is the Europeans need to do more in the defence of Europe and that is a statement of the obvious.
“The Americans have a focus on other theatres and areas of engagement and that is appropriate and I think the fact that NATO countries are spending more or are committing to spending more in their defence budget is a good thing and I commend Keir Starmer for his leadership.”
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