‘We won’t be intimidated’: Wong hits back at Russia over ‘boots on the ground’ warning

The Albanese government has insisted it will not be intimidated by hostile rhetoric from Vladimir Putin’s regime after Russia has warned of grave consequences if Australia contributes to an international peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has applauded Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for being willing to contribute to a “coalition of the willing” in Ukraine, while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has argued it would be against the national interest to send Australian troops to eastern Europe.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Russian President Vladimir Putin.Credit: Michael Howard

The Russian embassy in Canberra said in a statement provided to this masthead: “For 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.

“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.”

A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong said: “Our message to Russia is: end your illegal invasion of Ukraine.

“We won’t be intimidated from working towards a just peace for the people of Ukraine.”

The spokesperson said Australia “has a proud tradition of supporting peace through 80 years of contributions to international peacekeeping missions”.

“Such a mission does not yet exist in Ukraine, where Russia continues its brutal and unjustified war,” the spokesperson said.

“Australia has said that if we receive a request to support a peacekeeping mission, we’ll consider it.”

Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, urged Australia to ignore the Russian warning.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has made empty threats, including of using nuclear weapons, since the war began to try to scare foreign nations from helping Ukraine, Myroshnychenko said.

“Russia is a rogue state and they simply want everybody to give up on helping Ukraine,” he said.

The Russian embassy said: “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.”

The Russian embassy accused Australia of “lavishly” spending $1.5 billion to “enable Zelensky to send his fellow citizens to an endless and senseless slaughter”.

The embassy statement did not acknowledge that Russia was the aggressor in the war and invaded Ukraine’s sovereign territory in February 2022.

The Albanese government continues to call on Russia to release captured Australian soldier Oscar Jenkins, who was taken captive last year while fighting in defence of Ukraine.

“Australia has made clear to Russia that Mr Jenkins is a prisoner of war and Russia is obligated to treat him in accordance with international humanitarian law,” a spokesperson for Wong said last month.

Matthew Sussex, an expert in Russian strategic policy at the Australian National University, said: “Australia has a good history of not being bullied by dictators and we should view this statement with the disdain it deserves.”

He described the comment as an “opening salvo” in Putin’s bid to achieve a peace settlement on his terms, with Moscow determined to face as little deterrence as possible.

Putin is seeking maximal territorial gains and probably regime change in Ukraine, Sussex said.

Defence Minister Richard Marles accused Dutton of taking an “extraordinary position” by rejecting any Australian participation in a peacekeeping force.

“All we are saying is that if a request comes, we’ll give it the due consideration that we’ve given every request in respect of assistance to Ukraine, bearing in mind we have Australian service personnel in Britain right now providing training to the Ukrainian Armed Forces,” he told ABC radio on Monday.

“We will take any request from our partners in relation to Ukraine and give it due consideration. And if there is a manner in which we can help, we will.”

Dutton has said that “my judgment is that to base troops in Europe at the moment is the wrong decision for our country” because “we should be doing everything we can to bolster our security and our defences”.

Australia’s military representative to NATO and the European Union, Air Vice Marshal Di Turton, will attend a summit in Paris this week of countries offering to contribute to a peacekeeping force to end the war.

Australia last month joined 92 nations to support a United Nations resolution deploring “the ongoing full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation” and demanding Russia’s “complete and unconditional withdrawal” from Ukraine.

The United States stunned its allies by joining Russia to vote against the resolution.

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