Key Points
- Australia is set to provide an additional $250 million military assistance package to Ukraine.
- It will be Australia’s largest single military package since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
- Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles confirmed the support at the NATO Summit in Washington, DC.
Australia is set to provide Ukraine with an additional $250 million in military assistance to Ukraine to support its defence against Russia.
The package will be Australia’s largest single military package since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and takes Australia’s total military assistance to Ukraine to more than $1.1 billion, and overall assistance to over $1.3 billion.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles announced the support while representing Australia at the NATO Summit in Washington, DC.
“The delivery of highly capable air defence capabilities and air-to-ground precision munitions represents Australia’s largest single support package for Ukraine, and will make an enormous contribution to its efforts to end the conflict on its terms,” he said.
“Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine stands as an affront to international law and the rules-based order.”
The package includes air defence missiles, air-to-ground weapons (including guided weapons), anti-tank weapons, and artillery, mortar, cannon, and small arms ammunition
It will also include a shipment of boots for members of Ukraine’s armed forces working on the front line.
It comes just days after 41 people were killed after a Russian missile hit the main children’s hospital in Kyiv in one of the worst attacks since the start of the war.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked allies for more air defences.
The NATO summit declaration said the alliance intended to provide Ukraine with at least 40 billion euros ($64 billion) in military aid within the next year, but stopped short of the multi-year commitment NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg had sought.
The declaration said NATO will continue to support Ukraine “on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership” as Kyiv continues the “vital work” of democratic, economic and security reforms.
It reaffirms that NATO will “be in a position to extend an invitation to Ukraine to join the alliance when allies agree and conditions are met.”
The alliance also condemned Russia’s “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and coercive nuclear signalling, including its announced stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus,” adding that Minsk continues to enable Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But allies remain willing to maintain channels of communication with Moscow to “mitigate risk and prevent escalation”, the declaration said.
US President Joe Biden said in a speech that NATO was “stronger than it’s ever been” and that, “with our full, collective support”, Ukraine can and will stop Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Source Agencies
