Australia will provide a further $60 million in support for Ukraine as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a 10-year bilateral security agreement in New York.
The leaders met on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Australian time. The package includes $45 million in Australian Defence Force equipment, $10 million for Ukraine’s energy support fund and $5 million in humanitarian assistance.
The new funding takes Australia’s total contribution to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022 to $1.9 billion.
Mr Albanese said the agreement represented a commitment to upholding international law and warned that the conflict had implications far beyond Europe.
“This is an issue not just for Europe, this is an issue for the world,” he told reporters after the signing.
“If a large, more powerful country in Russia is allowed to profit from breaking the international rules of law with its illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine, then that sets a bad precedent for the entire world.”
The prime minister said the agreement would remain in place during the war and continue into peacetime once the conflict had ended.
He became emotional while praising Mr Zelenskiy’s leadership, describing him as a friend. “(Mr Zelenskiy’s) leadership has been, I think, quite extraordinary, leading people in circumstances which are extraordinarily difficult,” Mr Albanese said.
He added: “Russia thought it could just steamroll through in a matter of weeks, and what we have found is that the people of Ukraine were underestimated.”
The agreement will expand Australian training for Ukrainian forces to help them deter and repel any future Russian attacks. The two countries will also explore co-operation on training centres and the joint production of air-defence measures, missiles and drones.
Australia is to join a United Kingdom and Norway-led coalition supporting the development of Ukraine’s navy, including efforts to strengthen its maritime capability.
The countries will also work together to rebuild infrastructure including military healthcare facilities and training centres.
Mr Zelenskiy thanked Australia for its support during the conflict and described the agreement as “the strongest document between our countries”.
“We really will increase our co-production and trade and, of course, security, which is really important,” he said. “It’s all for our people, for the security.”
Additional sanctions against Russia were announced alongside the agreement, taking the total imposed by the Australian federal government on Russia and its supporters to more than 1,900.
