‘More than rhetoric’: $95m boost to support Ukraine
Tess Ikonomou and Grace Crivellaro |
Australia’s pledge of $95 million to Ukraine will make a “tangible difference” to the nation resisting Russia’s invasion.
Labor announced the pledge on Thursday, with Australia and New Zealand becoming the first non-NATO countries to contribute funding to buy critical military equipment for Ukraine.
The support includes a $50 million contribution to the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List, which streamlines the purchase of defence equipment from the US.
The Australian Defence Force will also donate supplies and weapons worth $43 million, including tactical air defence radars, munitions and combat engineering equipment.
An extra $2 million will be provided to help Ukraine with advanced drone technologies, which Russia expert Matthew Sussex from ANU’s Centre for European Studies described as a “strong package” overall.
“This is a good sign the government is committed to more than just rhetoric about European security issues … and helping those falling afoul of attempts to disrupt the rules-based order,” Professor Sussex told AAP.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia was unwavering in its support for Ukraine.
“These commitments will make a tangible difference in Ukraine’s defence against Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion,” he said.
He did not rule out Australian troops helping to facilitate the transition in the event of a ceasefire and said a peace deal must be struck before it was determined what that looked like.
“We’ve made clear that we will be part of a coalition of the willing and in whatever form our support is needed … we will be there,” he told ABC News.
The package brings Australia’s total support to more than $1.7 billion since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
In coming weeks, the final group of 49 gifted M1A1 Abrams tanks will be delivered.
Labor has slapped sanctions on an additional 45 “shadow fleet” ships that help Russia circumvent penalties imposed by Australia and other countries.
The announcement comes during another round of peace talks aimed at ending the war.
But the path for Ukraine peace talks was unclear, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday, after what he previously described as “reasonably good” talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US envoys.
Chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, Kateryna Argyrou, said the aid was desperately needed to help Ukraine “bravely resist Russia’s genocidal and brutal” invasion.
She called on Australia to follow Europe, the United Kingdom and the US by imposing sanctions on Russia’s oil giants.
“The Albanese government refuses to act to close a sanctions loophole, which makes Australia the single largest importer of refined Russian crude oil in the world,” she said.
Australia bans direct imports of Russian crude oil, but still allows imports of petroleum products refined in third countries from Russian crude as once the oil is refined, it’s legally treated as a new product.
“Prior to the war, we were importing about $80 million worth of Russian oil. That’s zero now,” Prof Sussex said.
“Now we’ve added another 45 ships to the ghost fleet that Russia uses to dodge sanctions and sell oil. There isn’t an awful lot more we can do.”
AAP
