Anthony Albanese pledges extra $100m for Ukraine in meeting with president Volodymyr Zelensky
The PM promises more funds to help rebuild Ukraine during a two-hour meeting in Kyiv with president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Anthony Albanese has pledged Australian support “for as long as it takes for Ukraine to emerge victorious” and unveiled an extra $100m in assistance after a two-hour meeting with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Paying tribute to Ukraine’s “bravery and determination” in resisting the Russian invasion, the Prime Minister said Australia would provide an additional 20 Bushmaster protected vehicles and another 145 armoured personnel carriers to support Ukraine’s war effort.
Announcing the extra aid while standing beside Mr Zelensky in the Presidential Palace in Kyiv, Mr Albanese said his visit to the war-torn country was a demonstration of “the solidarity that exists” between the Australian and Ukrainian people.
Mr Zelensky welcomed the assistance but declared: “It is never enough when you have such an adversary.”
“Enough is when we have some kind of advantage, to push them out of our territory,” he said. “Any single state cannot provide for this, no matter how hard they try.”
The President suggested to Mr Albanese that Australia “join the post-war rebuilding process of Ukraine”, set to cost trillions of dollars. “I am grateful for (Australia’s) decision to join the process. It is important for us, it is important for the whole world,” Mr Zelensky said.
“It is a very ambitious project. I would like to express words of gratitude for (the) negotiations, for coming today for Ukraine.”
The visit was the first to the country by an Australian prime minister, and Mr Zelensky said he wished it had happened in more peaceful times.
Mr Albanese travelled to Kyiv amid a media blackout ordered by his office on the advice of the Australian Defence Force. But his presence in the capital was reported on social media, and then by international wire services.
He met the President for two hours on Sunday to discuss the fresh support, after touring devastated areas of Kyiv and the site of the Bucha massacre outside the city. Missing from the announcement was an offer of more M777 howitzers, or superseded artillery pieces, which had been requested by Ukraine, along with 155mm howitzer ammunition.
The Prime Minister also did not announce the reopening of the Australian embassy in Kyiv, as expected. He said he hoped to reopen the mission “as soon as possible”, but was waiting on additional security advice.
The extra Bushmasters come on top of 40 already promised or delivered, while the additional M113 armoured personnel carriers follow 14 already promised. Australia will also provide further military equipment, including drones, and support to Ukraine’s border guard service to upgrade its hardware and cyber security.
The extra Australian support brings total Australian assistance to Ukraine to about $390m.
Mr Albanese said Australia would continue to support Ukraine “for as long as it takes for Ukraine to emerge victorious”.
“You are fighting for the international rule of law,” he said.
Mr Albanese said Australia would allow duty-free access to Ukrainian imports into Australia, prohibit imports of Russian gold, and intervene in the International Court of Justice in support of Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
He also announced sanctions and travel bans on another 16 Russian ministers and oligarchs, bringing the number of individuals target by Australia to 843, and the number of sanctioned entities to 62.
The Prime Minister said during his visit he had seen first-hand “the devastation and breaches of human rights” in Bucha – site of the massacre of 416 civilians – and in outer-suburban Kyiv, where apartment blocks were hit by indiscriminate rocket fire.
“We saw residential buildings that have been the subject of brutal assault from missiles and other weapons,” he said. “Clearly, civilian areas have been targeted by Russian forces as part of this illegal and amoral war.”
Mr Albanese conveyed Australians’ “admiration and respect” for Mr Zelensky’s leadership, and condemned Russia’s “brutal invasion” of Ukraine.
“It is unprovoked, it is against international law, it is against the UN charter,” he said.
Opposition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie welcomed the announcement of additional support for Ukraine while former Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott congratulated Mr Albanese on social media for “visiting Kyiv and pledging more heavy weaponry to the heroic Ukrainians”.
The two leaders also discussed Ukraine’s food security and its inability to export grain, which has caused international food shortages.
It is understood the leaders discussed the November G20 summit in Indonesia, which could be attended by Vladimir Putin, if only virtually.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has resisted suggestions by the US and other nations that they could boycott the event if the Russian President attends.
Mr Zelensky, who was personally invited to attend the summit by Mr Widodo on his recent trip to Kyiv, said he was “not sure there will be a great number of participants if (Russia) … decides to attend”.
He said he “cannot imagine myself arriving” at the Indonesian-hosted summit if the war with Russia was still continuing then.
Mr Albanese reiterated that Australia would attend the summit, even if Mr Putin did, because of Australia’s relationship with Indonesia.
But he said Australia supported “isolating Russia as much as possible, and my presence here is an indication of that”.
“If it is the case that Mr Putin attends that meeting, and I’m not sure whether he will or not, he will get the reception he deserves.”
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