Ukraine hopes the Australian government will send engineers and environmental specialists to help the country respond to a dam disaster, with the Ukrainian ambassador spelling out the request as Anthony Albanese flies to a Nato summit this week.
The prime minister was in Berlin for talks with the German government on Monday, but is due to attend the Nato summit in Lithuania on Tuesday and Wednesday where the Russian war against Ukraine is likely to dominate discussions.
A meeting between Albanese and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has yet to be confirmed. But the ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said, “It’s in the making, and I hope it takes place.”
While a lot of the recent focus has been on Ukraine’s request for further military assistance, including Hawkei vehicles, Myroshnychenko said there were other areas in which Australia could provide practical help.
Myroshnychenko said the cleanup from the flooding after the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam last month was “a big issue and it’s going to take years to overcome”.
He said he hoped that Australian engineers and scientists who specialise in water management and decontamination would be willing to travel to Ukraine and provide practical assistance or advice.
He suggested that the Australian government could make funding available for such travel.
Myroshnychenko said Bushmaster vehicles – of which Australia has already promised or supplied 90 – were “proven on the battlefield” and Ukraine was hopeful that Albanese would agree to send more.
The ambassador said he also remained “hopeful” that Australia might supply Hawkei vehicles despite concerns in Canberra about an ongoing problem with the braking system. He said, “If there is a problem now, then it can be fixed, right?”
Myroshnychenko avoided responding to critical remarks by the former Australian prime minister Paul Keating about the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg.
Keating labelled Stoltenberg a “supreme fool” and “an accident on its way to happen” over Nato’s push to open a liaison office in Japan and increasing attention on the Indo-Pacific region.
But Myroshnychenko made broader remarks that it was “pretty clear that Australia has got skin in the game” in Ukraine because of its interest in restoring the international rules-based order.
Myroshnychenko implied that the outcome of the war in Ukraine could influence China’s own calculations within the Indo-Pacific region.
“If Russia can succeed to retain any territory of Ukraine, that will be a huge loss for Australia or for any other country here in the region, because it will mean that anybody can do the same and can get away with it. That’s the whole point,” he said.
“I think Russia must be punished for what they’ve done. And that’s the best deterrent that could be out there for anybody in the region of the Indo-Pacific.”
The Coalition’s acting spokesperson for foreign affairs, James Paterson, took aim at Keating for his “extraordinary” attack on the Nato chief and said it “demands a substantive response” from the prime minister.
“It would be nice if we could just ignore Paul Keating but he’s not just a former prime minister, he’s a Labor legend,” Paterson told Sky News.
He said the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, “to her credit” used a National Press Club speech in April to counter Keating’s arguments about Aukus and the strategic outlook in detail.
“It’s very clear the government has a problem on its left flank when it comes to national security – we see that with the Aukus agreement,” Paterson said.
“They just can’t afford to leave this to fester.”
Albanese was asked if Keating’s comments made his Nato trip “supremely awkward”. “Not at all,” he replied at a press conference in Berlin. “Jens Stoltenberg is a friend of Australia.”
“We need to remember the role Nato is playing. There is a land war in Europe. This is a war about the international rule of law, about whether a large nation can seek to impose its will on a smaller nation.”
Albanese said that Nato’s effort in Ukraine “has implications for the whole world”, appearing to reject Keating’s analysis that the response to Russia’s invasion had no implications for China.
Asked if Nato has a role in the Indo-Pacific and whether it should open an office in Japan, Albanese replied, “That’s a matter for Nato.”
In the statement on Sunday, Keating praised the French president, Emmanuel Macron, for warning Nato “away from any expansion into Asia, reminding all and sundry of Nato’s Atlantic design and focus”.
Keating cited parallels Stoltenberg drew in February between Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China in remarks that “we should not make the same mistake with China”.
Keating said Stoltenberg’s position amounted to the view “that China should be superintended by the west and strategically circumscribed”.
“Stoltenberg, in his jaundiced view, overlooks the fact that China represents 20% of humanity and now possesses the largest economy in the world … and has no record of attacking other states, unlike the United States, whose bidding Stoltenberg is happy to do,” Keating said.
Albanese was due to meet with Germany’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in Berlin on Monday. The prime minister said the visit would include signing a deal for Australia to deliver 100 Brisbane-made Boxer heavy weapon carriers to Germany.
