Simon Birmingham pledges to reopen Australia’s embassy in Kyiv during Ukraine visit

The Coalition has pledged to reopen Australia’s embassy in Kyiv, with Simon Birmingham warning the delay has become an irritant in the relationship on a visit to Ukraine this week.

­Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham has vowed to reopen Australia’s embassy in Kyiv. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

A Peter Dutton-led Coalition government would reopen Australia’s embassy to Ukraine in Kyiv if it won the next election, with the ­opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham making the commitment on a visit to the war-torn city this week.

Senator Birmingham will meet with Ukrainian government deputy ministers for foreign affairs, defence and industry during his visit as well as Ukrainian MPs in what is the first visit to the country by an Australian foreign minister or shadow foreign minister since 2014.

Australia closed its embassy in the aftermath of the Russian invasion in February 2022, with Senator Birmingham saying that about 70 other countries ranging from Ireland to Indonesia had already reopened a “physical presence in Kyiv, demonstrating support for Ukraine and ensuring they receive the best possible intelligence and information”.

The Coalition argues that the Albanese government has been unwilling to reopen the embassy and that this has become an irritant in Australia’s relations with Ukraine.

Australia still maintains a diplomatic presence in Ukraine through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian embassy, allowing access to the fifth floor of the building. The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed earlier this month that the total amount paid to Canada for property costs in Kyiv had amounted to about $518,742.

This is despite the Australian embassy having been temporarily relocated to Poland following the outbreak of hostilities in February 2022. DFAT has revealed the rent for the Kyiv ambassador’s residence in Warsaw costs taxpayers $74,962 a year while the residence for the deputy ambassador costs $57,207 a year.

“The Albanese government’s stubborn refusal to reopen Australia’s embassy has left us an international outlier, and contributed to questions about Australia’s reliability as a totally dependable partner,” Senator Birmingham said. “While other nations have carefully reopened their embassies in Ukraine, the Albanese government has effectively left Australians paying twice, with rent still being paid to Canada for an embassy in Kyiv, while our actual ambassador is instead housed and accommodated in Poland.”

Senator Birmingham argued this had resulted in an “absence of on the ground advice” leading Labor to make “bad decisions on Ukraine, like burying rather than gifting decommissioned helicopters or not sending Australian coal when it was requested”.

“Under Labor, Australia has slipped from being the leading non-NATO contributor to Ukraine’s defence, having been overtaken by Japan and Korea,” he said. “Reopening Australia’s embassy would send a strong and positive message of support for Ukraine while removing an obvious irritant in the relationship.”

Senator Birmingham said that Australian governments had previously managed to keep officials safe in dangerous conflicts, including in Baghdad and Kabul.

“Standing with Ukraine isn’t just about the defence of their country against an illegal and immoral invasion, but also a defence of the international rules that all law abiding nations rely upon,” he said. “Autocrats and aggressors will judge whether countries like ours have the resolve to maintain our support for Ukraine, and make decisions about their next steps accordingly. It’s firmly in Australia’s interests to see Ukraine succeed.”

Ukrainian ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko said Senator Birmingham and all Australian officials were “warmly welcome in Kyiv.”

“We hope that, in visiting, our Australian allies come to well understand Ukraine’s strategies for victory. This includes the ability to target Russian assets from which attacks on Ukrainian civilians are launched.”