Australia considering more military support for Ukraine

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles says the government is considering offering more military support to Ukraine in its war with Russia.

A M113AS4 armoured personnel carrier bound for Ukraine is loaded on to an Antonov An-124 cargo aircraft at RAAF Base Amberley, Queensland.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles says the government is considering offering more military support to Ukraine in its war with Russia, conceding it was urgent for the invaded nation to consolidate its territorial gains ahead of the harsh European winter.

Mr Marles said he had spoken with Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko about how Australia could further assist Ukraine repel the Russians, warning it was going to be a “protracted conflict”.

“We need to be there for the long haul, but ultimately the ­objective of Australia, I think NATO and all those countries supporting Ukraine, is to make sure Ukraine is in a position to ultimately resolve this conflict on its own terms,” he told the ABC’s Insiders program.

“That has to be what happens here, given the unprovoked ­aggression we saw from Russia in originally invading Ukraine.

Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“And to do that means being there for the long term, and that’s how we see it.”

Mr Marles said despite recent advances from the Ukrainian forces, Russia still occupied about a fifth of its territory.

“There is a long way to go,” he said.

As of last week, Australia has supplied 40 of a promised 60 Bushmasters, six M777 howitzers and is part-way through shipping 28 Vietnam-era M113 armoured vehicles.

Mr Myroshnychenko has ­officially requested 30 more Bushmasters, 30 of the army’s new Hawkei protected vehicles, 12 more M777 howitzers and as much 155mm artillery ammunition as Australia can supply.

Mr Myroshnychenko told The Australian last week it was also vital that promised support arrived faster, urging the government to double the frequency of supply flights.

“We are in a counteroffensive right now and these armoured personnel carriers are vital to get troops to the frontline. The more we have, the more protected they are on the battlefield,” Mr Myroshnychenko said.

Amid concerns China could eventually launch a military offensive in Taiwan, Mr Marles said Beijing should take heed of the unified response from Western nations on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The way in which the world has reacted to Russia and the unanimity of that has been very impressive,” he said.

With the government to choose the US or Britain as a nuclear submarine partner by next year under the AUKUS agreement, Mr Marles said conventional submarines would become “increasingly redundant in the next two decades”.

“The most important platform that Australia can have in shaping its strategic circumstances, in building strategic space for diplomacy, for trade, is a long-range capable submarine,” he said.

“And what is absolutely clear is as we move into the 2030s and 2040s, that will require that submarine to be nuclear-­powered.

“The recharging of batteries in a conventional submarine, what is required there, is going to make that capability increasingly redundant as we get into the 2030s and 2040s.”