Australia plans to join its allies in personally sanctioning Vladimir Putin and the Russian foreign affairs minister over the full-scale invasion of Ukraine – but says it will not expel Russian diplomats from the country at this stage.
The government flagged the move amid growing fears of an all-out Russian assault on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and as Russia used its veto power to block a UN security council resolution deploring the invasion.
The Australian foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, said she was taking advice from her department on expanding sanctions to include the Russian president, who would be “personally responsible for the deaths and the suffering of innocent Ukrainians”.
Payne said while sanctioning a country’s leader was an exceptional step, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was “an exceptional situation”.
Addressing reporters in Sydney on Saturday, she said Putin had “lied, deceived, fabricated and shown no interest in genuine dialogue”.
“Vladimir Putin has unparalleled personal power over his country and he has chosen to go to war against a neighbour that posed no threat to Russia, because he wants to reverse history and take away the freedom and the democracy that the Ukrainian people chose for themselves,” Payne said.
“It is clear that the only way to exact a cost for those actions is to ensure that he, himself, shares some of that cost and some of the pain that he is inflicting on everyone else around him in Ukraine.”
Payne foreshadowed the action as she noted announcements by the UK, the US, the EU and Canada that they would personally sanction Putin and Russia’s foreign affairs minister, Sergei Lavrov. She was “seeking advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to enable Australia to take similar steps”.
Putin and Lavrov were not included when the Australian government announced on Wednesday the first round of sanctions on eight of the 12 permanent members of the Russian security council. Putin chairs that body.
On Saturday, Payne said the government would also be imposing sanctions on eight Russian oligarchs who are seen as close to Putin, 339 members of Russia’s parliament “who are the political facilitators of this action”, and key figures in Belarusian government who aided the invasion.
Australia’s trade and economic relationship with Russia is very limited, leading some experts to say Australian sanctions are largely symbolic.
But Payne on Saturday stressed the importance of the international community showing unity “to ensure that Russia faces a high cost for what is a completely unprovoked and unjustified attack on its neighbour”.
The Australian government has been critical of Beijing’s response, including its decision to fully open up to Russian wheat exports, which had previously been subject to health-related restrictions.
But Australia’s partner in the Quad grouping, India, has been exploring ways to set up a rupee payment mechanism for trade with Russia to soften the blow on New Delhi of western sanctions, according to a Reuters report.
India joined China and the UAE in abstaining from Friday’s vote on the UN security council resolution that criticised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia was the sole vote against the resolution – in what some observers said was a sign of Moscow’s isolation - but given its veto power was able to block its passage.
Asked whether she was concerned about India’s stance and would encourage it to take a stronger position, Payne said every country would “make its own decisions about how it deals with these issues”.
Payne said it was Australia’s “clear view that we should call out illegal war and coercion and aggression” and noted India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, had appealed to Putin for immediate cessation of violence.
The minister said she had indicated several times that the option of expelling Russian diplomats from Australia remained “a live option”, but it was important to maintain a direct line of communication with the Russian government.
“It is not something that we are considering currently,” she said. “It remains an option but not something we are proceeding with at this point.”
The head of Dfat has spoken directly with the Russian ambassador, Alexey Pavlovsky, to express Australia’s position.
Pavlovsky gave a lengthy press conference last month in which he denied the buildup of Russian troops near the border with Ukraine was a sign of aggression, and said Russia was acting rationally in raising its concerns about the expansion of Nato. Putin had wanted a guarantee that Ukraine would never join Nato.
On Friday, the Russian embassy in Canberra defended the military operation to “demilitarise” Ukraine, saying the move was to “defend our country from those who have taken Ukraine hostage and have been trying to use it against Russia and our people”. It has previously said sanctions would have no effect.
But both sides of Australian politics have denounced Putin’s actions as an “unprovoked” and “shameful act of aggression” contrary to international law.
Amid estimates from the UN refugee agency that 100,000 people have already fled their homes, Payne described the situation in Ukraine as “likely to escalate” and said Australia would be ready to provide humanitarian assistance.
Payne confirmed on Saturday that she would meet “in due course” with the new Chinese ambassador to Australia, amid ongoing diplomatic tensions between the two countries and with the federal election looming in May.
“I will meet with him and we’ll have discussions,” she said.
The Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, on Friday played down the significance of a gesture from the ambassador, Xiao Qian, who said China and Australia should “meet each other halfway” and “look into the future”.
Morrison said the 14 points on the list of grievances issued by the Chinese embassy in 2020 were “not for negotiating”, and it was “completely unacceptable” for China to ease trade restrictions on Russia after the invasion.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, hit back at Morrison, saying the Australian government was “entrenched in the Cold War mentality” and had “time and again spread disinformation to smear and criticise China”.
