The Ukrainian ambassador made the request as Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Anthony Albanese prepared to depart for a NATO conference this week. Ukraine hopes the Australian government will dispatch engineers and environmental professionals to assist the country in responding to a dam crisis.
On Monday, the prime minister was in Berlin for negotiations with the German government. He is scheduled to attend NATO summit in Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday, where discussions on the Russian assault against Ukraine are likely to dominate.
There has not been any confirmation made regarding a meeting between Albanese and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine. Vasyl Myroshnychenko, however, the ambassador to Australia, stated that “It’s in the making, and I hope it takes place.”
Myroshnychenko stated that there were other areas in which Australia might provide practical assistance, despite the fact that a significant amount of recent attention has been focused on Ukraine’s request for additional military equipment, which includes Hawkei vehicles.
Myroshnychenko stated that the cleanup from the floods that occurred last month as a result of the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam was “a big issue, and it’s going to take years to overcome.”
He expressed his hope that engineers and scientists from Australia who specialize in water management and decontamination would be willing to visit Ukraine and offer either hands-on assistance or advice.
Bushmaster vehicles, of which Australia has already pledged or supplied 90, have been “proven on the battlefield,” according to Myroshnychenko, and Ukraine is hoping that Australia would agree to deploy more of them.
The ambassador also stated that he remained “hopeful” that Australia may deliver Hawkei vehicles despite worries in Canberra regarding a continuing difficulty with the brake system. He said this despite the fact that Australia might not be able to furnish Hawkei vehicles. He posed the following question: “If there is a problem right now, then it can be fixed, right?”
Myroshnychenko refrained from providing a response when former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating made disparaging comments about the current Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg.
Keating referred to Stoltenberg as a “supreme fool” and “an accident on its way to happen” in reference to the NATO initiative to create a liaison office in Japan and the increased focus on the Indo-Pacific area.
Myroshnychenko, on the other hand, made broader statements in which he stated that it was “pretty clear that Australia has got skin in the game” in Ukraine as a result of Australia’s interest in restoring the international rules-based system.
Myroshnychenko gave the impression that the result of the conflict in Ukraine would have an impact on China’s own strategic calculations inside the Indo-Pacific area.
“If Russia is successful in retaining any land within Ukraine, it will be a tremendous loss for Australia or for any other country here in the region because it will signal that anyone can do the same thing and get away with it. This will be a huge loss for Australia and for any other country here in the region. “That sums up the entire argument,” he explained.
“I believe that Russia should be held accountable for what they’ve done. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the single most effective deterrent that anyone in the Indo-Pacific area could possibly have.”
James Paterson, the interim spokesperson for international affairs for the Coalition, took aim at Keating for his “extraordinary” attack on the NATO chief and claimed that it “demands a substantive response” from the prime minister. Keating is the target of Paterson’s criticism.
“It would be nice if we could just ignore Paul Keating, but he’s not just a former prime minister; he’s a Labor legend,” Paterson said in an interview with Sky News.
He stated that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Penny Wong, “to her credit” utilized a speech that she gave at the National Press Club in April to refute Keating’s claims regarding Aukus and the strategic outlook in greater detail.
“It’s very clear that the government has a problem on its left flank when it comes to national security – we see that with the Aukus agreement,” Paterson added. “This is very concerning.”
They just do not have the financial resources to allow this problem to grow.
When questioned if Keating’s remarks had made his trip to NATO “extremely awkward,” Albanese responded in the affirmative. When asked about it during a news conference in Berlin, he responded, “Not at all.” “Jens Stoltenberg is a good friend of Australia.”
“It is imperative that we do not forget the part that NATO is playing. A land conflict has broken out in Europe. The international rule of law is at stake in this conflict, as is the question of whether or not a powerful nation can attempt to force its will on a less powerful one.
Albanese stated that NATO’s operation in Ukraine “has implications for the whole world,” which appeared to be a rejection of Keating’s view that the response to Russia’s invasion did not have any implications for China.
When Albanese was asked if NATO plays a role in the Indo-Pacific and if the organization ought to create an office in Japan, he responded, “That’s a matter for Nato.”
In the statement that he released on Sunday, Keating lauded French President Emmanuel Macron for his admonition to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to refrain “from any expansion into Asia, reminding all and sundry of Nato’s Atlantic design and focus.”
Keating drew connections between the two. In comments made in February, Stoltenberg drew parallels between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China, stating that “we should not make the same mistake with China.”
“Stoltenberg, in his cynical view, ignores the fact that China is now home to the largest economy in the world, despite the fact that China is home to twenty per cent of the world’s population… “and has no history of attacking other states, unlike the United States, whose urgings Stoltenberg is happy to carry out,” Keating said. “Stoltenberg is happy to do the bidding of the United States.”
On Monday, Albanese was scheduled to travel to Berlin for a meeting with Olaf Scholz, the chancellor of Germany. The prime minister stated that during the visit, an agreement would be signed that would allow Australia to deliver 100 Boxer heavy armament carriers manufactured in Brisbane to Germany.
