Australia will expand cyber training for Ukrainian officials and could join a broader coalition of Western countries to provide the besieged Eastern European nation with military equipment or other support as fears of a Russian invasion continue to mount.
Late on Sunday, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States formally blamed Russia's main intelligence agency for a series of cyber attacks on Ukraine's major banks six days ago, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne and Defence Minister Peter Dutton declaring Moscow was responsible for an "ongoing unacceptable and disruptive pattern of malicious cyber activity".
"Australia will continue providing cyber security assistance to the Ukrainian government, including through a new bilateral Cyber Policy Dialogue and further cyber security training for Ukrainian officials."
Australia has already been providing cyber training to Ukraine's military, but Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba requested additional technical assistance from Australia and several other countries after suspected Russian hackers targeted several major Ukrainian government websites in January.
Senator Payne met with Mr Kuleba in person on Sunday evening (Canberra time) at the Munich Security Conference to discuss what other support Australia could provide.
After the meeting, Mr Kuleba said on Twitter that they had "discussed opportunities for providing military-technical support to Ukraine" but didn't provide any further details.
"Grateful to Australia for standing by Ukraine at this tense time of the security crisis created by Russia," he wrote.
A spokesperson for Senator Payne said Mr Kuleba had briefed her on the current situation on the Ukrainian border and thanked Australia for its ongoing support.
"The window for diplomacy was narrowing, but they appreciated all the efforts to continue dialogue," they said.
West debates at Munich with Russia poised at Ukraine's border
The conference has been consumed by debates about the prospect of war in Ukraine, and how the US and Europe should respond.
Shelling intensified in Ukraine's east over the weekend, and both United States President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have now said publicly they believe Russian President Vladimir Putin has decided to press ahead with an invasion.
Several nations, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland and the Czech Republic, have already shipped military equipment and weaponry to Ukraine, although the Biden Administration has made it clear it will not send US troops into the region and risk an all-out conflict with Russia.
In Munich, Mr Johnson seemed to flag that the UK and other countries might give Ukraine additional help, telling the conference "we have to steel ourselves for the possibility of a protracted crisis, with Russia maintaining the pressure and searching for weaknesses over an extended period, and we must together refuse to be worn down."
Australia ready to provide 'practical' assistance
The federal government has consistently maintained it will not send any Australian troops to the region in the event of war.
Still, Prime Minister Scott Morrison set off speculation in diplomatic circles on Saturday when he declared that Australia was ready to provide "practical" assistance to Ukraine in conjunction with partners and allies.
On Sunday, he declined to provide any further details, saying it would be irresponsible to "telecast" Australia's plans.
"There are many ways we work with both our partners and our allies and can work directly to support Ukraine in the work they're doing, whether it be in the cyberspace area or things of that nature, the planning and various other elements, working with our partners and allies," he told journalists.
When asked directly if Australia was contemplating sending military equipment to Ukraine, the Prime Minister said: "we'll work with partners and our programs will be announced in partnership with them. I'm not pre-empting any of that."
One federal government source told the ABC no final decisions had yet been made and it was premature to make any predictions about what Australia's contribution might be.
Defence Minister Peter Dutton said there was an opportunity for Australia to provide support to Ukraine "by way of basic equipment".
"[Senator Payne] has had those conversations ... we'll look at those requests and we'll see what usefully we can provide," he said.
"But we need to be realistic in the circumstances, as the troops amass ... every sign is a worrying indication. So, we can provide what support we can but we've been very clear the Australian government won't provide troops on the ground."
The head of Ukraine's diplomatic mission in Australia, Volodymyr Shalkivskyi, also said no decisions had been made.
"We appreciate the strong political support of Australia of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of our country."
Russia's Embassy in Canberra rejected the cyberattack attribution, saying the claims were "no more credible than the US intelligence forecasts of the 'imminent' Russian invasion we have been hearing for several weeks now".
It said it was "regrettable" that the Australian government had "[chosen] to jump on the anti-Russian bandwagon".
A host of Western countries – including Australia — have also made it clear they'll hit Russia and members of Mr Putin's team with sweeping sanctions if Russia does invade, although analysts say that is very unlikely to sway the Kremlin.
"Should they follow through on their acts of violence against Ukraine, we will follow through with sanctions, together and in partnership with all of our other allies and partners," Mr Morrison said on Sunday.
