Australia’s PM calls Ukraine president following G20 conference to set up meeting and Poroshenko accepts invitation

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has invited the Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, to visit Australia to discuss security.



Abbott spoke to Poroshenko on Wednesday night following last weekend’s G20 leaders conference.

“The two leaders discussed the deteriorating situation in Ukraine,” a spokesman for Abbott said. “The prime minister noted that Russia’s continued efforts to destabilise Ukraine and violate its sovereignty had been an issue of concern to many G20 leaders, and that these actions remained a matter of deep concern to the Australian government.”

G20 leaders rebuked the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, over his support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine, who have been widely blamed for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July.

Abbott had threatened to “shirt-front” Putin over the issue at the G20, but took a more diplomatic approach in calling for an apology and compensation for the crash victims’ families.

The Ukrainian charge d’affaires in Australia, Mykola Dzhydzhora, told Guardian Australia Poroshenko had accepted Abbott’s invitation, but no date had been set. It will be the first state visit to Australia by a Ukrainian president.

“Our reaction can be only positive. It is really welcome,” Dzhydzhora said. He acknowledged the security situation in eastern Ukraine would be central to talks between the two leaders.

A spokesman for the Russian embassy played down the visit, saying it was nothing out the ordinary, and pointing to bilateral talks between the Australian and Russian governments after the Apec summit in 2007.

“There is nothing wrong with inviting a leader from another country,” the spokesman told Guardian Australia.

The international community has roundly condemned Russia for destabilising Ukraine by providing material support for separatists. The west has imposed increasingly punitive sanctions on Moscow since Russia annexed Crimea in March.

On Thursday Kiev rejected attempts by Russia to facilitate direct talks between rebels and the Ukrainian government, saying the move would “legitimise terrorists”.