The nations are bracing for more of the same, more so following air strikes on Syrian chemical weapon facilities by the US, British and French, which Mr Putin labelled an act of aggression against his Middle-East proxy.

Still topical in Britain is the failed attempt by Russia to murder one of its former spies and his daughter in British soil using nerve agent.

Speaking to reporters in London a day before Mr Turnbull's arrival, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was scathing of Moscow's behaviour, including its "unconscionable" actions as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to veto an investigation in to the Syrian chemcial attacks.

She called the cyber attacks "malicious" and said they reflected a pattern of behaviour by Moscow over a long period of time.

The growing Russian threat will dominate a meeting between Malcolm Turnbull and several of his counterparts. Alex Ellinghausen

"There is a concern that the UN Security Council is being used by Russia to shield Syria from investigation, from accountability," she said.

"Russia has used its veto on numerous occasions to shield Syria for its own purposes and this clearly is intolerable."

She said being a permanent member carried a responsibility of maintaining international peace and stability.


Also in London on Wednesday, Mr Turnbull will be briefed by Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee Charles Farr.

David Rowe

Good timing

Mr Turnbull, who spoke to Ms May at the weekend following the air strikes, will also have a one-on-one meeting with her on Saturday.

Prior to departure, he said CHOGM was well-timed given all that was going on.

China will be the other elephant in the room with CHOGM to focus on bolstering British and even French influence in the Asia-Pacific to try and check the influence of China gained by funding infrastructure in small Pacific nations.

Britain will be prevailed upon that, once Brexit is complete, it at least maintain or boost its aid levels in the South Pacific.

Vladimir Putin has labelled airstrikes on Syrian chemical weapon facilities an act of aggression against his Middle-East proxy. Alexei Druzhinin


While Australia has cut its own aid budget, Mrs Bishop said once Brexit was complete, British aid would no longer be directed through the EU and London could better use its aid budget to pursue strategic interests.

She noted 11 of the 15 Pacific Island Forum nations were members of the Commonwealth.

"Most certainly, this presents an opportunity... for the UK and its aid budget to be focused elsewhere obviously according to the British national interest and its priorities," she said.

"I think you will find Britain is resetting its engagement in the Pacific and we certainly welcome it."

So, too, will there be a push at CHOGM to add former French-colonial states to the Commonwealth such as New Caledonia and Polynesia to ensure France also becomes more involved as a counterweight to China in the region.

Also on the CHOGM agenda this week will be a decision by the 53 member nations to agree on who will succeed Queen Elizabeth II as head f the Commonwealth..

Mr Turnbull will back Prince Charles, the Queen's first-born child, and heir to the throne.

En route to London, Mr Turnbull took a day's annual leave and paid for his own commercial flight to Singapore to visit family. His RAAF jet carrying his staff was scheduled to pick him up in Singapore when it stopped to refuel.