Albanese to join Ukraine 'coalition of the willing' peacekeeping call

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Anthony Albanese will join a phone hook-up with world leaders to discuss a potential peacekeeping mission to Ukraine. France, Germany, Italy and Canada will also be part of the call arranged by British PM Keir Starmer. The call will take place on Saturday night.

Transcript

00:00The British Prime Minister started building what he's called a coalition of the willing

00:06after that Oval Office blow-up between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky.

00:11Its membership has grown beyond just Europeans to now include Canada, Australia and even

00:16New Zealand, mainly US allies, just without the US.

00:20On tomorrow night's phone hook-up, leaders will hear from Ukraine's President.

00:24They'll discuss the prospects of a ceasefire and the potential for a multi-nation peacekeeping

00:29force.

00:30Anthony Albanese is open to sending Australian troops, but it's understood any deployment

00:34would only be modest.

00:36The risks of putting Australian boots on the ground are clear, particularly if there is

00:40no US security guarantee.

00:43The opportunity is to align more closely with Europe at a time when there are growing doubts

00:48about Donald Trump's reliability.

00:51Peter Dutton has supported previous foreign deployments, but not this one.

00:55He wants to keep troops at home.

00:57And for this, Anthony Albanese is accusing him of walking away from Australia's support

01:01for Ukraine.

01:02Now, whether Australia does end up deploying forces will depend on a ceasefire being struck

01:08and the terms of any such agreement.

01:10Right now, this coalition of the willing has momentum behind it and its membership is expanding.

01:17Australia's role in it could end up being another key foreign policy difference at the

01:22coming election.

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