According to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Australia will stop allowing Russian gold shipments and will give the Ukraine 34 more armored vehicles.
Speaking in Ukraine’s capital in Kyiv alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Mr Albanese said Australia would slap sanctions and travel bans on 16 additional Russian ministries and billionaires.
It raises the total number of Russians subject to Australian sanctions to 843.
Mr. Albanese announced that Australia would provide Ukraine with 14 more armored personnel carriers and 20 Bushmaster vehicles as part of a fresh $100 million support package during a surprise visit to the war-torn country in Europe.
Australia will also continue to support Ukraine’s border guard force by upgrading its field operations and border management equipment.
With the additional military investment for the Ukraine, Australia has the highest non-NATO military spending total—nearly $390 million.
In a message to the Ukrainian president, Mr. Albanese said, “Australia stands ready to continue supporting the government and people of Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to prevail in defending your national sovereignty and your homeland.”
“Because you are working for the international rule of law, you are fighting for the respect and orderly operation of the international laws by which we do our activities,”
Mr. Zelensky was appreciative of Australia’s clear, unwavering stance on the expansion of freedom protection.
To stop Russia’s propensity for aggression, we must improve global cooperation. Pressure from sanctions must be increased against the aggressor.
There are still around 2000 communities in Ukraine’s east and south that need to be freed. Australia accepted my invitation to help with the post-war reconstruction, and I am appreciative of their readiness to help with the execution of such an enormous undertaking.
On his way back from Paris, the prime minister made a side trip to the Ukraine; he is scheduled to arrive in Australia on Tuesday.
The journey comes in response to Mr. Albanese’s offer to visit the nation’s capital sent in June by Vasyl Myroshnychenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia.
According to Reuters, Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor, posted on Telegram that Mr. Albanese had visited the towns of Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel, where Ukraine claims Russian forces killed people. The accusations are rejected by Russia.
Mr. Kuleba cited Albanese as saying, “Australia supports Ukraine and wants to see justice meted out for the atrocities done here.”
Australia has denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and committed $285 million in military supplies, including Bushmaster and armoured personnel carriers.
Mr. Albanese said Australia would attempt to re-establish a diplomatic presence in Ukraine on his trip to Europe. Since the Ukraine crisis started, employees of the Australian Embassy have been working from Poland, a neighbouring country.
On Tuesday, Mr. Albanese is anticipated to return to Australia.
Following the NATO conference, Albanese travelled to the war-torn Ukraine to see the terrible destruction brought about by Russian soldiers.
Australian and Ukrainian security teams carefully followed the Prime Minister as he was taken through Bucha, Irpin, and Hostomel, which are located northwest of Kiev.
Numerous violent massacres of innocent villagers as well as systematic rapes are among the numerous war crimes that Russian forces are alleged to have committed in the region.
Oleksiy Kuleba, the governor of Kiev, said on Facebook on Sunday night that Mr. Albanese was shocked by the destruction he had seen.
In the words of Mr. Kuleba, “He was stunned by what he saw: wrecked civilian buildings, traces of mines, destroyed Antonov airstrip.”
The Prime Minister, he continued, had stated that Australia “supports Ukraine and urges just retribution for the crimes that have occurred here.”
Mr. Kuleba expressed his gratitude to the Australian team for visiting the Kyiv region on a personal basis.
“The conflict in Ukraine, at the heart of Europe, must stay on the international agenda.”
On Sunday, Mr. Albanese stopped in Ukraine en route from Paris to his home.
Vasyl Myroshnychenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, had invited Mr. Albanese to travel to Kyiv, the capital of the country, in June.
Australia denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and committed $285 million in military supplies, including Bushmaster and armored personnel carriers.
Speaking last week at the largest NATO conference ever held in Madrid in front of world leaders, Mr. Albanese described the invasion of February as “brutal, unlawful, and unjustified.”
He claimed that the West’s united front against Russia and the aftermath of the conflict served as a lesson to China about the consequences of its rising assertiveness in the Pacific.
Mr. Albanese said Australia would attempt to re-establish a diplomatic presence in Ukraine on his trip to Europe.
Since the Ukraine crisis started, employees of the Australian Embassy have been working from Poland, a neighboring country.
For the length of Mr. Albanese’s visit to Ukraine, the media was completely blacked out on the advice of the Australian Defense Force.
Despite the fact that he had mentioned that he had been invited several times in the previous week, he remained silent when asked if he would be able to travel there or not.
Foreign media and the governor of Kyiv confirmed the visit, despite instructions not to publicize it until the Prime Minister returned to Poland.
Since the invasion started on February 24 the airspace over Ukraine has been restricted, and because to intense fighting most of the highways into Kiev are impassable.
Numerous people were killed by rockets on Sunday as Russian troops continued to strike the city of Lysychansk in the east.
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated before Mr. Albanese’s arrival that the nation “needs huge investments – billions, new technology, best practices, new institutions and, of course, reforms.”
He declared, “The war is not over.” Unfortunately, in some places, its savagery is just getting worse, therefore it must be forgotten.