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Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles has ruled out Australian Defence Force troops being committed to peacekeeping actions in Ukraine.
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The Deputy PM and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong recently travelled to the United Kingdom to attend the Australia-UK Ministerial Consultations.
The meeting is the first AUKMIN following the election of the UK’s Starmer Government, after Australia hosted AUKMIN in Adelaide earlier this year.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reportedly confirmed that their government was open to potential deployment of Western troops in Ukraine to guarantee the country’s security
In addition, French President Emmanuel Macron has previously expressed the idea of having western troops on the ground in Ukraine. Germany and Poland have both ruled out sending troops to Ukraine.
“Our focus right now is on supporting Ukraine now, such that it can resolve this conflict on its terms,” Deputy PM Marles said during a press conference held in London on December 17.
“During the course of this year, Australia has committed $650 million of support to Ukraine, which is about half the military support that we have committed to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
“So that actually represents an increased tempo, if you like, of the comments that we have made. And we spoke a lot about how we can continue to provide support during the course of 2025 and the announcement that we will continue, or extend our contribution to Operation Interflex is an example of that.
“But we will continue to look at ways in which we can support Ukraine for as long as it takes and we work really closely with the UK in terms of what that then looks like.
“And obviously we work closely with Ukraine itself, but the role that has been played by the United Kingdom in support of Ukraine, I think, has been inspirational, as has, of course, the resistance has been shown by Ukraine itself.
“We have greatly appreciated Britain’s leadership in the way in which it has convened support around the world, including Australia, for Ukraine and we’ll continue to work with Britain in terms of what support we can continue to provide.”
During the latest AUKMIN, Marles met with UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy, and Secretary of State for Defence John Healey to further deepen cooperation and alignment on key foreign, defence and security policy issues.
The Deputy Prime Minister also visited His Majesty’s Naval Base Devonport, the largest of its kind in Western Europe and where the UK undertakes operational, training and maintenance activities for its naval fleet, including deep level submarine maintenance.
Following the visit to the UK, the Foreign Minister will travel to Strasbourg and Brussels for meetings with the European Union and NATO.
“Our task and our duty now is to support Ukraine in every way that we can to resist the Russian offensive, to hold and retake its ground and to put itself in the strongest possible position if President Zelenskyy decides to start talking as well, or instead of, fighting,” according to Uk Defence Secretary John Healey.
“When that moment comes, our job as allied nations that stand steadfast with Ukraine is to support them in any negotiations, just as we will through battlefield fighting. And one of the important things that we discussed today, that we have affirmed publicly, is our commitment to stand with Ukraine throughout 2025.
“It’s designed to reinforce the confidence of the Ukrainian people that it has allies in the West, that we would stand with them as long as it takes. And it's designed also in a message to Putin that he cannot prevail, he will not prevail and Ukraine will have our support for as long as it needs.”
