Australia Open to Sending Peacekeepers to Ukraine

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he’d consider sending Australian peacekeeping troops to Ukraine if President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked for help.

At a press conference in Sydney, Albanese made it clear that Australia "stands ready to assist" Ukraine against Russian advances. "Our position on Ukraine is very clear. We stand with the people of Ukraine and we stand with President Zelenskyy," he said. Australia has already provided $1.5 billion in support, including $1.3 billion in military assistance.

While there are currently talks about potential peacekeeping missions, Albanese stressed that no official request had been made yet. "We haven't been asked for anything, there's proposals discussed,'' he said. "If a request is made, we would give consideration to it."

The Prime Minister emphasized that Australia’s foreign policy is independent and that it's in the nation's best interest to support Ukraine. He didn't hold back when discussing Vladimir Putin, saying, "We want to make sure the illegal, immoral actions of Russia are not rewarded," and that Putin’s "imperialistic designs" should not be encouraged.

However, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has a different take. He doesn’t believe Australian troops should be sent to Ukraine. Instead, he agrees with former President Donald Trump's view that Europe should take the lead under NATO’s defense agreements. "I think the Europeans have that task," Dutton said. He pointed out that Trump’s call for Europe to do more in its own defense "is a statement of the obvious."

Albanese’s comments come shortly after a heated exchange at the White House between Zelenskyy, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance. The Oval Office meeting didn’t seem to go well, with hopes for U.S. intervention looking dim.

Despite the tense discussions, Zelenskyy later took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his gratitude. "We want only strong relations with America and I really hope we will have them," he wrote.