Anthony Albanese says he is ‘open’ to sending troops to Ukraine

Anthony Albanese has suggested he is open to sending peacekeepers to Ukraine as he reiterated his support for Kyiv.

Anthony Albanese has restated support for Kyiv and suggested he was open to sending peacekeepers if requested by the UK.

“What they’re fighting for is the international rule of law (and) Australia stands ready to assist,” the Prime Minister told reporters in Sydney.

“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 a range of peacekeeping areas.

“We want to see peace in Ukraine, but we want to make sure the illegal, immoral actions of Russia are not rewarded, and that Vladimir Putin and his designs, which are imperialistic, are not rewarded or encouraged.

“But we’ve worked with the United Kingdom and we’ll continue to do that as well and with European partners and look at the best way in which we can provide support.”

Anthony Albanese has not ruled out an Australian peacekeeping force in Ukraine. Picture: ABC

Australia has provided more than $1.5bn in aid to Kyiv since Russia’s full-scale invasion more than three years ago.

The Coalition has also pledged to continue backing Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Richard Marles said a timeline has been set for the delivery of dozens of promised battle tanks to Ukraine.

The Albanese government in October last year pledged to hand over 49 M1A1 Abrams nearing the end of their operational lives.

An initial delivery window was floated towards the end of this year.

But Kyiv has been calling for the tanks to arrive sooner so Ukrainian forces can get them to front lines by the European summer.

Mr Marles, who also serves as Deputy Prime Minister, said on Tuesday the Albanese government had “established a timeline” with Ukraine but refused to expand.

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles says a timeline to deliver dozens of tanks has been agreed with Ukraine. Picture: Handout / NewsWire

“In terms of the Abrams tanks, that’s a commitment that we’ve made and we have established a timeline with the Ukrainian government about the delivery of those tanks to Ukraine,” he told the ABC.

“Now, for operational reasons, won’t go into the detail of that timeline.”

Pressed on the timeframe, Mr Marles insisted the tanks would arrive in a “timely fashion”.

“They’ll definitely arrive in a timely fashion and they’ll arrive in a timeframe that we’ve agreed with Ukraine and that’s exactly how we have managed the delivery of other equipment to Ukraine,” he said.

Mr Marles added that it had “been agreed with Ukraine and they’re very grateful for the contribution”.

The Albanese government has joined other Western allies in loudly reaffirming support for Ukraine following Donald Trump’s White House clash with Volodymyr Zelensky.

The US President has since doubled down after his Ukrainian counterpart said the end of Russia’s war on Ukraine was “still very, very far away”.

“This is the worst statement that could have been made by Zelensky, and America will not put up with it for much longer!” Mr Trump posted on social media.

“It is what I was saying, this guy doesn’t want there to be Peace as long as he has America’s backing and, Europe, in the meeting they had with Zelensky, stated flatly that they cannot do the job without the US – Probably not a great statement to have been made in terms of a show of strength against Russia. What are they thinking?”

Originally published as Anthony Albanese says he is ‘open’ to sending troops to Ukraine