Peter Dutton said he was “disappointed” by United States President Donald Trump’s treatment of Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.
Speaking at a press conference in Brisbane the opposition leader praised Zelenskyy as a “modern-day hero”, and cautioned that Europe “can’t continue to rely for financial support or military support from the United States”.
“In relation to Ukraine, the Australian view at the moment is different to the United States,” Dutton said.
“And my job as prime minister will be to lobby the President of the United States to reconsider his position in relation to Ukraine because I think it is in all of our collective best interest if we are able to provide support to Ukraine.”
The Albanese government and Dutton have been queried in recent days about Australian troops joining a “coalition of the willing” peacekeeping mission, an idea put forward by UK Prime Minister, Keir Starmer.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said: “We regard this as an issue of doing what is right but also what is in Australia’s national interests" and confirmed Labor would continue sending other forms of aid to Ukraine.
Dutton's response was more direct when queried about Australian forces joining the fray directly: “The short answer is no. There's no need for Australia to send troops."
