Topics: Re-opening Kyiv Embassy;

06:45AM AEST
29 August 2024

 

Kenny Heatley: The hometown of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been struck by a Russian missile. It happened yesterday while residents of the central city were observing a day of mourning. Eight people were injured in the attack which targeted civilian infrastructure. The Coalition has pledged to reopen Australia’s embassy in Ukraine’s capital as soon as possible. Opposition Foreign Affairs Spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, is in Kyiv this week meeting local officials. Australia’s embassy in Kyiv closed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Around 70 countries have reopened their embassies and Senator Birmingham claims that Labor is making Australia an international outlier by leaving it closed. Joining me live from Kyiv, Ukraine, is Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Simon Birmingham. Thanks for your time. Russia has launched the largest missile assault on Ukraine, including Kyiv, earlier this week that killed five people. People had to take shelter in underground metro stations. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade insists for now, it’s too dangerous for diplomats to return. Why this call now to reopen Australia’s embassy in Ukraine?

Simon Birmingham: Kenny, we’ve been clear for some time that Australia’s Ambassador to Ukraine should ideally be in Ukraine. Instead, we’ve got a situation where the Albanese Government is still paying rent in the Canadian Embassy here in Kyiv for an Australian embassy, but our ambassador is actually based in Poland, some hundreds of kilometres away. Now we’ve seen around 70 countries reopen their embassies in Kyiv to make sure that they’re in the best possible position to receive intelligence briefing, analysis and information in real time and to be there for face-to-face briefings with the Ukrainian Government that Australia just misses out on because we don’t have that presence here. That means that the information we have to make decisions is weaker and poorer than it would be by having our ambassador here and it’s why we think they should be here and it should be within our means to do the same as around 70 other nations, including the Canadians where our embassy is based, and to have ours open with our ambassador present.

Kenny Heatley Yeah, Australia’s Ambassador to Ukraine is Paul Lehmann. Have you spoken with Mr Lehmann and does he support the move to return from Poland?

Simon Birmingham: I’ve spoken with Ambassador Lehmann. He gave some briefings ahead of my visit here, and they’re very welcome. And I think he does the best possible job he can do under the rules that are set by the department and the government. So, this is not his decision and I respect very much the work that he does. But it’s a decision of the Albanese Government. It’s one that is out of step with all of our international partners and it’s one that leaves Australia in a weaker position when it comes to providing the critical support that we must provide to Ukraine. Ukraine’s fight isn’t just about Ukraine versus Russia. It is one where, if Ukraine prevails, then it will send a very strong signal to all of the tyrants and autocrats around the world. Equally, if Ukraine doesn’t succeed, then of course, they will be emboldened. And that’s why Australia, working with other democratic partners, needs to continue to give the best support to this democracy in the face of this attack from Russia.

Kenny Heatley:  We are in week three now of Ukraine’s stunning incursion into the Kursk Region in Russia. Do you think this was a smart move by Ukraine and do you support Ukraine’s push into Russia?

Simon Birmingham: Kenny, I’m not going to be the military tactician and judge whether this was the right move or not. Ultimately, Ukraine has to make its own decisions. It does so, no doubt, consulting closely with other military partners to ensure that it’s making the best possible use of the resources available to it, putting itself in the strongest possible position to ultimately secure a just peace, a just peace where Ukraine’s borders are respected, a just peace where Ukraine can have the type of security for the future that its people deserve so that they can get on with their lives. And on this visit this week, I’ve met with officials from Ukraine’s defence department and ministry, from their foreign ministry, their industry ministry, talked about their requirements. But I’ve also met with families who’ve been displaced and had to move away from conflict zones. The pain, of course, in those circumstances, is huge and that’s why we all want to see this conflict come to an end, but it needs to come to an end on terms that leave Ukraine in the strongest possible position.

Kenny Heatley: So Western countries have prohibited Ukraine from using weapons it has been given to strike missile and drone launch sites deep inside Russia, meaning Kyiv has to rely mostly on its air defences to stem Moscow’s attacks. You are meeting with officials in Ukraine’s government. Have they expressed to you the desire for their allies to allow them to strike deeper into Russia using Western weapons?

Simon Birmingham: They have absolutely raised those issues. This is a week, as you said, where there have been enormous attacks by Russia in terms of missiles being fired at Ukraine. Now overwhelmingly, Ukraine’s air defences have repelled those missiles and here in Kyiv, where our embassy would be based, it’s a situation where the early warning systems, the safety protocols and then those air defence systems have all combined to ensure that Kyiv is in a strong position to repel those sorts of attacks and to keep the population as safe as they possibly can. But for international partners, they do need to look carefully at Ukraine’s request to be able to stop these attacks from the point of source, from the point of take off in Russia, not just have to defend them over the skies of Ukraine.

Kenny Heatley: Simon Birmingham appreciate the time. Stay safe while you’re over there in Ukraine. Thanks again.

[ENDS]