Canberra, March 14 (IANS) Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will join a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ phone call with other world leaders on Saturday to discuss the potential deployment of peacekeepers to Ukraine. The call is being arranged by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It is also set to include the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, Canada and New Zealand, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Albanese is open to considering a request to send Australian troops as part of a peacekeeping force, state-run media agency Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported on Friday, quoting sources.
Addressing reporters on Friday, Opposition leader and Prime Ministerial candidate for the upcoming elections in Australia Peter Dutton said that Australia should not be involved, accusing PM Albanese of “shooting from the hip”.
“It just doesn’t make any sense. Our job is to take care of our country and make sure we are safe in our region. We have supported Ukraine from day one. But not with troops on the ground. This was a thought bubble by the Prime Minister,” Dutton added, ABC reported.
Earlier Australia sent its top defence official Air Vice Marshal Di Turton at a meeting called by French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday to discuss support for Ukraine. Macron hosted military chiefs from 30 European and NATO countries to discuss security assurances for Ukraine following a hope for a ceasefire deal. Macron has teamed up with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to lead efforts to form a ‘coalition of the willing’ to enforce an eventual ceasefire in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, the Russian Embassy in Canberra on Monday warned of ‘grave consequences’ if Australia joined a ‘coalition of the willing’ proposed by the United Kingdom and France to guarantee Ukraine’s security in the event of a peace deal, something PM Anthony Albanese said he would consider.
“For Australia, joining the so-called coalition of the willing would entail grave consequences,” reported Sydney Morning Herald while quoting a statement from the Russian Embassy in Canberra.
“Once again, Western boots on the ground are unacceptable for Russia, and we will not remain passive observers. To those inclined to construe the above as a threat: it is not; it is a warning. Russia has no intention to harm Australians, and Canberra can easily avoid trouble by simply refraining from irresponsible adventurism in the zone of the special military operation,” the statement added.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong had reacted strongly to the statement, saying that the Albanese government ‘won’t be intimidated’.
“Our message to Russia is: end your illegal invasion of Ukraine. We won’t be intimidated from working towards a just peace for the people of Ukraine,” she stated.
–IANS
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