will join a phone call with a host of prominent European and other Western world leaders this weekend to discuss a potential peacekeeping mission in Ukraine.The prime minister confirmed today that he had been invited by UK counterpart Sir Keir Starmer to join the call tomorrow night, although said it was not certain what would come from the conference."I look forward to re-engaging with President Zelenskyy but with other democratic leaders as well," Albanese told reporters today.
Anthony Albanese will join a call with Western world leaders this weekend to discuss a possible peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. (Trevor Collens)"I won't pre-empt what comes out of that meeting but Australia has of course stood with Ukraine since the beginning of this process."Other leaders also attending include Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy, France's Emmanuel Macron, New Zealand's Christopher Luxon, Canada's new Prime Minister Mark Carney and representatives from Germany and Italy.The meeting comes weeks after Starmer first proposed putting British troops on the ground in Ukraine to maintain any eventual peace deal with Russia, which was followed by Albanese saying he would consider any request for Australian soldiers to join such a coalition of the willing."It's an illegal war. It's an immoral war. And it's one led by a Russian authoritarian dictator who has imperialistic designs on Ukraine and the region," Albanese said today.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been leading efforts for a united European response to the war in recent months. (AP)"This is a struggle for national sovereignty for the Ukrainian people but also a struggle for the rule of international law that is so important."That's why you have such overwhelming support from democratic nations."He added that no peacekeeping plans have been committed to yet."We don't have peace, so therefore we don't have a peacekeeping agreement," he said.Starmer, who has led efforts for a united European response to the war since Donald Trump re-entered the White House, has previously pledged to produce plan for peace in Ukraine to be presented to the United States.
Vladimir Putin has said there are "issues" with a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, which Ukraine has agreed to, although said he agrees in principle to the plan. (Russian Presidential Press Service via AP)Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has said he wouldn't send ADF personnel to Ukraine, and dismissed the idea this morning as a "thought bubble"."We should continue to support Ukraine, but not with troops on the ground in Ukraine," Dutton said."(Support for Ukraine) did have a bipartisan position and it appears that Mr Dutton has walked away from that," Albanese countered this afternoon."That's a decision for him. But we stand with Ukraine and we stand against and remain committed to opposing the actions of Vladimir Putin."Overnight, Putin said there are "issues" with a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire thatUkraine has agreed to, although said he agrees in principle to the plan.