Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has told the Australian parliament that his country is “undefeatable” against Russia as long as it can count on the support of the global community.
In a virtual speech to MPs and senators in Canberra, the Ukrainian president requested Australia send Bushmaster armoured vehicles to assist in the fight against Russia, saying they would “do much more for our common freedom and security than staying parked on your land”.
“You have very good armoured personal vehicles, Bushmasters, that could help Ukraine substantially, and other pieces of equipment that could strengthen our position in terms of armaments,” Zelenskiy said.
Zelenskiy accused Vladimir Putin of “nuclear blackmail” and said that an unchecked Russia was a “threat” to the world, suggesting its actions may inspire other nations to follow suit, in a thinly veiled warning to the parliament he was addressing.
“The distance between our countries is big, it’s thousands of kilometres … but there’s no such thing as distance for the brutality and chaos that Russia brought to the east of Ukraine,” Zelenskiy said.
“Whatever is happening in our region because of the Russian aggression … has become a real threat to your country and your people as well,” he said. “This is the nature of the evil. It can instantly cross any distance, any barriers, destroy lives.”
Zelenskiy, clad in his now-signature black T-shirt, spoke via an interpreter on video link to a packed House of Representatives on Thursday night. He called for Russia to pay “the highest price” and for allies to impose even tougher sanctions, such as blocking Russian vessels from foreign ports and boycotting the country’s oil.
Before Zelenskiy’s address, Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, called Putin “the war criminal of Moscow” in his strongest condemnation of the Russian president yet.
Morrison also announced an extra $25m in military assistance for Ukraine, including unmanned aerial and ground systems, rations and medical supplies. The commitment takes Australia’s military contributions to Ukraine to $116m.
Earlier on Thursday, the Australian government vowed to slug all imports from Russia and Belarus with an extra 35% tariff.
In a statement, Morrison called out “Russia’s brutal, unrelenting and illegal invasion” of Ukraine, and said the government “will continue to identify opportunities for further military assistance”.
Morrison praised Zelenskiy as a “lion of democracy”.
The Australian Labor opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, slammed Putin for “aggression in the name of a poisonous, nationalistic lie”.
“You are showing us what true courage is,” Albanese said, speaking directly to Zelenskiy.
The Ukrainian president warned that other nations may follow Russia’s lead in attacking their “neighbours” unless the world stood up now – in a clear reference to China, which has so far resisted taking a stronger line in discouraging Putin’s aggression.
“The worst pages of the 20th century have been brought back by Russia already,” Zelenskiy said. “The biggest threats of that century came back, the evil that humanity thought they had forgotten about a long time ago.
“But the most terrible thing, if we don’t stop Russia now, if we don’t hold Russia accountable, then some other countries of the world who are looking forward to a similar war against their neighbours will decide that such things are possible for them.”
The president also spoke confidently and optimistically about the future of his country.
“We know that our dream is undefeatable and indestructable, especially if we can count on the support of the free world, on your support, on your assistance,” he said.
“We need it not just in a couple of months, we need it urgently, now.”
Zelenskiy said Ukraine’s citizens were “already thinking about the future, about how we’re going to live after the war, and of restoring our country”.
Australia has provided $156m in support to Ukraine since Russia began its invasion in February, including $91m in “lethal and non-lethal military assistance”, which was confirmed in Tuesday evening’s budget papers.
Australia also plans to offer Ukrainians fleeing the conflict a three-year temporary humanitarian visa. It has also joined a range of countries imposing sanctions on Russia.
On Thursday, Morrison said the Australian government was “taking further action to increase the economic costs to Russia after its illegal invasion of Ukraine, supported by Belarus, by applying an additional tariff of 35% for all imports from Russia and Belarus”.
Australia does not have a big trading relationship with Russia. In 2019-20, Australia imported $250m in goods from Russia, such as fertilisers ($71m) and crude petroleum ($59m).
By contrast, Australia exported $723m in goods to Russia in 2019-20, including live animals, specialised machinery and meat, according to data compiled by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat).
Dfat listed Australia as a lowly 94th on the list of Russia’s main export destinations before the pandemic.
The Australian government has been particularly critical of the growing alignment between Russia and China – concerns shared by a top UK intelligence chief.
The director of GCHQ, Sir Jeremy Fleming, told an audience in Canberra that there were risks to both Russia and China from being “too closely aligned”.
“Russia understands that long term, China will become increasingly strong militarily and economically,” Fleming said in a speech to the Australian National University. “Some of their interests conflict; Russia could be squeezed out of the equation.
“And it is equally clear that a China that wants to set the rules of the road – the norms for a new global governance – is not well served by close alliance with a regime that wilfully and illegally ignores them all.”
