Albanese to join leaders for Ukraine peace phone call
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will join a call with world leaders to discuss the possibility of providing Australian peacekeepers to Ukraine.
Albanese has accepted an invitation from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to join a phone call on Saturday night, Australian time, about peacekeeping efforts in a “coalition of the willing”.
As well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Canada and New Zealand will also join.
The phone hook-up follows a summit of European leaders on Ukraine peace efforts earlier in March.
Albanese said there could be immediate peace in Ukraine if Russian President Vladimir Putin called off his country’s invasion.
You might like
“In order to have a peacekeeping mission, you need to have a peace. So we look forward to there being peace in Ukraine, but we don’t have to think very hard about which side we’re on in this conflict,” he said in Perth on Friday.
“This can end tomorrow. If Vladimir Putin ends this illegal and immoral invasion and goes back to his own borders, that’s what we firmly believe should happen.”
The war in Ukraine began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
While Russia has backed a US proposal for a ceasefire, Putin said more clarity was needed about its terms.
Stay informed, daily
“We have to bear in mind that this ceasefire must be aimed at a long-lasting peace and it must look at the root causes of the crisis,” Putin said – a reference to previous claims that the Ukrainian government is part of the underlying problem.
American special envoy Steve Witkoff was in Moscow on Thursday (local time) to brief Kremlin officials on the peace plan.
It follows the clash between Zelensky and US President Donald Trump in a meeting at the White House in February.
Albanese said Ukraine still had Australia’s full support of Ukraine.
“I look forward to re engaging with President Zelensky, but with other democratic leaders as well,” he said.
“I won’t pre-empt what comes out of that meeting, but Australia has, of course, stood with Ukraine since the beginning of this process.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said any proposal to send Australian forces to Ukraine “did not make sense”.
“With troops on the ground in Ukraine, this was a thought bubble by the Prime Minister, it was a distraction,” he said on the NSW Central Coast.
“Our job is to take care of our country and to make sure that we’re safe in our region. And to keep peace in our region, we’re going to have to invest in defence.”
– with AAP
