Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said his government would consider providing military training to Ukrainian forces in their war with Russia, reports Aljazeera.
The prime minister told Australian media on Wednesday he had spoken to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday about what further contributions Australia could make to Kyiv’s war effort.
Albanese told media that “we certainly are” considering training Ukrainian military personnel, describing Russia’s targeting of civilians as “appalling attacks”.
“I conveyed to him (Zelenskyy) the condolences of the Australian people for the innocent victims who have been murdered by Russian aggression, targeting civilian locations including in Kyiv, just about a kilometre from where I was just a couple of months ago,” Albanese said, referring to a visit to Kyiv he had undertaken in July.
“This is a fight not just about Ukraine’s sovereignty,” the prime minister said.
“This is a fight about the international rule of law, about whether sovereign borders will be respected and that is why the world is united in their support for Ukraine against this Russian aggression,” Albanese said.
“We would have thought that a land war in Europe was something of the past but Russia continues to engage in these aggressive acts. We’ll continue to provide support. We are the largest non-NATO contributor,” he told the media.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
