Australia to reopen embassy in Kyiv almost three years after Russian invasion

London: Australia will reopen its embassy in war-torn Kyiv next month, almost three years since its diplomats fled to neighbouring Poland in the days ahead of Russia’s brutal invasion.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, on her first visit to Ukraine since Putin’s troops rolled across the border in February 2022, confirmed Australia’s ambassador would return full-time in January, as the country faces growing pressure from US President-elect Donald Trump for the war to end.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong meets with her Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, in Kyiv.Credit: Pool / Mazoe Ford (ABC)

Russian forces have rushed to gain an advantage on the battlefield, increasing attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure ahead of Trump entering the White House in January and heightening alarm in Ukraine that it will be forced to make territorial concessions in exchange for peace.

Trump has been highly critical of billions of dollars of aid that President Joe Biden’s administration has provided to Kyiv to battle Moscow’s invasion.

Wong, the first member of the federal government to visit the capital since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in July 2022, also pledged $66 million to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to assist with Ukraine’s vital recovery and reconstruction efforts.

Another $10 million would also be given in assistance to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund to provide heat and electricity for Ukrainians, she said.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko (right), greets Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong in Kyiv.Credit: Pool / Mazoe Ford (ABC)

Wong said her visit came as a pivotal moment in the war almost three years since Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, decided to invade.

She said Russian President Vladimir Putin had “sunk to new lows” in using North Korean soldiers, and it was a reminder that the security of both the Euro-Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific was interconnected.

“This is an attack not just on Ukraine and your people, but it is an attack on all countries that rely on international rules for peace, stability and prosperity,” Wong said.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (right) outside the Australian Embassy in Kyiv, with Australia’s ambassador Paul Lehmann (centre) and Ukraine’s ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko. Credit: Pool / Mazoe Ford (ABC)

“So Australia stands with Ukraine … This country and its people have demonstrated extraordinary courage, and we often talk about the importance of freedom. Well, the Ukrainian people fight for their freedom every day.”

The Albanese government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have been fiercely criticised for their reluctance not to return diplomats to Kyiv, who have instead been based in Warsaw. Nearly 70 countries that left in the days before the invasion had returned within months.

President Volodymyr Zelensky had publicly encouraged Australians to return, while other senior Ukrainians had expressed frustration with the government’s reluctance to do so.

The federal Coalition had made it an election pledge to return as soon as it could, while several Labor MPs were members of a parliamentary committee that was earlier this year critical of the slow pace of return. Canada, which has an embassy in the same Kyiv building as Australia’s, sent its staff back in May 2022, just three months into the war.

Wong, who met Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha, and Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko during her visit, said the government had always said it would “reopen our embassy in Kyiv when it is safe to do so”.

She said not being a NATO ally had hampered a return, but did not expand on why it was now safer for Australia to be back while other non-NATO countries, such as Indonesia, had long returned.

Sybiha said the Ukrainian government deeply appreciated the embassy reopening, which would allow for more direct communication.

“It’s a show of solidarity with Ukraine,” he said. “Australian people understand the hardships suffered by the Ukrainian people, and we welcome deeper bilateral relations,” he said.

Wong also met families at Save Ukraine – a community organisation supporting vulnerable Ukrainian families and children damaged by the conflict – where she pledged $80,000 to help their work.

Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birminghan said the reopening brought to an end an embarrassing episode that showed “intransigence or ineptitude by the Albanese government and was an insult to the courageous Ukrainian people”.

“Penny Wong’s inability to articulate why the embassy can reopen now, after arguing for more than two years that it couldn’t, only reinforces that this decision could and should have been made a long time ago,” he said.

Kateryna Argyrou from the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations said the community always believed that it was important for the embassy to reopen.

“It will provide Australian diplomats and military personnel with regular contact with Ukrainian officials, which will yield valuable information and intelligence, unlocking further opportunities for further government collaboration,” she said.

“It will also allow better coordination and delivery of Australian aid and provide feedback on how Australian-supplied equipment is performing on the battlefield.”

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