Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has declared his country will prevail in the war with Russia, and he has told the Australian prime minister “when victory comes, it will be our joint success”.
Having landed in Phnom Penh on Friday night, Anthony Albanese opened his summit season program in Cambodia on Saturday with a meeting with Kuleba on the sidelines of the Asean-Australia summit.
Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister is in the Cambodian capital at the invitation of the country’s prime minister, Hun Sen.
During a warm conversation on Saturday morning, Albanese praised the fortitude of the Ukrainian people in their struggle against Russian forces and highlighted the military support Australia has contributed since the onset of the conflict.
Australia has committed $655m in support to Ukraine since the Russian invasion, including $475m for military support. A contingent of Australian defence force personnel is also helping train Ukrainian troops in the United Kingdom.
Kuleba quipped that Bushmaster is now the most popular brand in Ukraine – a reference to the armoured vehicles Australia has sent to Ukraine to assist during the conflict. He said the Australian vehicles had given Ukrainian forces considerable capability which had assisted with holding territory after the invasion.
Albanese said Australia would commit a further 30 Bushmasters, taking the total to 90.
Ukraine’s foreign affairs minister told Albanese that he understood that the world wanted an end to the conflict, which has sparked a global energy shock driving inflationary pressures in many countries.
He said the Ukrainian people also craved peace. But as long as Russia continued to mobilise conscripts and heavy weapons “of course we will continue to count on your continued support”.
Kuleba said he was confident his country would ultimately win the war, and Australia was a key partner in that effort.
Australia stands with Ukraine against Russia's illegal invasion. Wonderful to meet with @DmytroKuleba, Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Minister at the ASEAN summits in Cambodia to discuss Australia's contribution, including the extra 30 Bushmasters helping defend Ukraine's sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/ij5dXTzKxB
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 12, 2022
“Ukraine will always remember this support the people of Australia extended to us,” he said. “We will definitely prevail and, when victory comes, it will be our joint success”.
Albanese said he wanted to have the conversation on the sidelines of the Asean-Australia summit to “convey our support for what is a courageous struggle of the Ukrainian people in standing up for your national sovereignty”.
Australia’s prime minister said standing with Ukraine meant “standing up for the international rule of law”. Albanese described Russia’s conduct in the conflict as “reprehensible … and I express on behalf of the Australia people our condolences for the loss of life that the Ukrainian people are enduring” as a consequence of the “illegal aggression”.
As Ukraine enters its winter months, Kuleba asked Australia and other nations present at the summit for help with energy needs.
He said radiators in apartments were cold and buildings were experiencing long blackouts because of Russia’s attacks on energy infrastructure.
“Transformers, generators, spare parts for the electricity grid. These are very technical things and they are all of humanitarian purpose,” he said. “This is humanitarian aid, they have nothing to do with military aid.”
Albanese told Kuleba he would take the request to his government to consider how Australia could support Ukraine further.
The ongoing war is a significant backdrop to the annual November summit season which kicks off in Cambodia before shifting to Bali early next week for the G20 summit and Bangkok later in the week for the Apec talks.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is not expected to attend any of the international summits over the next week. The Russian foreign affairs minister, Sergey Lavrov, is in the Cambodian capital and will attend a gala dinner of the summit on Saturday night.
The president of the United States, Joe Biden, arrived in the Cambodian capital on Saturday night and will also attend the gala dinner, as will Albanese.
• Australian Associated Press contributed to this report
