Peter Dutton mentioned he was “disappointed” by Donald Trump’s therapy of Volodymyr Zelenskyy within the Oval Workplace and mentioned he would foyer the US president to alter his view on Ukraine, if the Coalition gained the approaching federal election.
The opposition chief praised Zelenskyy as a “modern-day hero”, and cautioned that Europe “can’t continue to rely for financial support or military support from the United States”.
The Albanese authorities and Dutton each downplayed the prospect of Australian troops becoming a member of a “coalition of the willing” peacekeeping mission proposed by the British prime minister Keir Starmer. Labor mentioned it might proceed sending different support to Ukraine.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, mentioned: “We regard this as an issue of doing what is right but also what is in Australia’s national interests.
“The brave people of Ukraine led so extraordinarily by president Zelenskyy are fighting not just for their national sovereignty and their democracy, they are fighting for the international rule of law, and it is an easy choice that Australia has made.”
At a defence summit in London with Zelenskyy and different main European leaders, Starmer mentioned Europe is “at a crossroads in history”. He confirmed the UK and France would lead a “coalition of the willing” to assist finish the preventing, saying Britain and different European nations have been prepared to place “boots on the ground and planes in the air”.
Starmer’s phrasing evoked the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which was supported by the UK and Australia amongst others.
Requested at a press convention in Brisbane whether or not Australia ought to ship troops to hitch such a global pressure, Dutton responded: “The short answer is no”.
“Everyone wants peace across the world, but in Europe, and we want Putin to retreat from Ukraine and to stop the attacks. President Zelenskyy is a modern-day hero, he’s a war hero and he deserves support.
Dutton said the job of senior politicians sometimes means “standing up to your friends and traditional allies because our views have diverged.”
“In relation to Ukraine, the Australian view at the moment is different to the United States,” Dutton mentioned, “and my job as prime minister will be to lobby the President of the United States to reconsider his position in relation to Ukraine because I think it is in all of our collective best interest if we are able to provide support to Ukraine.”
In televised remarks on Monday, Albanese instructed a gathering of his cupboard that Australia had contributed $1.5bn of assist, together with $1.3bn of navy assist, to Ukraine.
Albanese didn’t tackle Starmer’s name instantly within the televised remarks, however a authorities spokesperson later mentioned that it remained resolute in supporting Ukraine.
“We have long called for Russia to end its illegal, immoral war. And we have long supported Ukraine’s war effort, including through the provision of equipment and training of Ukrainian forces,” the spokesperson mentioned in a press release.
“We will consider the details of any proposal, but the deployment of Australian troops to support peacekeeping forces in Ukraine is not under consideration at this time.”
In his press convention, Dutton praised Starmer’s management and mentioned the present scenario had made European leaders recognise the necessity to “step up”. He mentioned the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, had “no regard for human life”.
“The European nations, particularly the bigger nations, can’t continue to rely for financial support or military support from the United States. They need to chip in themselves,” Dutton mentioned.
“I think President Trump has made this clear … the US has an incredibly important role to play in the world but it can’t be everywhere at once and it’s important for Europe to step up. It seems that’s what’s happening at the moment.”
Requested concerning the astonishing encounter between Trump and Zelenskyy on Friday, Dutton mentioned he was “disappointed by the scenes at the White House and I believe that president Zelenskyy requires the support of the European countries in the US and countries like Australia as well”.
