Singapore/Bali: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will treat Russian President Vladimir Putin with “the contempt that he deserves” when the two leaders cross paths at the G20 in Bali later this year.
Opening up a fresh line of attack on the Russian government as the country’s foreign minister Sergei Lavrov prepares to meet his counterparts in Bali on Friday, Albanese said Putin had murdered thousands of people and accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine.
Anthony Albanese says he will treat Russian President Vladimir Putin with “the contempt that he deserves” when they cross paths at the G20 in Bali. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen/Wires
“It certainly won’t be polite,” Albanese told Sky News on Thursday. “The world needs to send a very clear message about how we regard him and his behaviour towards undermining the rules-based order, undermining the UN Charter, being responsible for the war crimes that are being committed in Ukraine.
“[I will be treating him] with the contempt that he deserves.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday that the G20 foreign ministers – meeting as a precursor to the G20 leader’s meeting in November – would confront Lavrov directly in Bali on Friday. “We’ll be making very clear collectively our views about Russia’s position and Russia’s behaviour,” she said.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is scheduled to address the meeting on Friday with Lavrov in the room.
Wong said the G20 would tell Russia that its actions were “illegal, unjust and immoral”.
“If you ever wanted an example of a nation which has chosen to denigrate and weaken multilateralism [it is Russia],” Wong said. “If you ever want an example of a nation that has demonstrated its willingness to disregard the need for food security for a world recovering from a pandemic, it is Russia.”
Russia’s ambassador to Australia Alexey Pavlovsky on Thursday accused the Australian government of destroying the relationship between the two countries.
“Australia does view Russia as an enemy,” he told ABC Radio National.
“[Russia] does view the situation with great sadness. I wish I could say something positive. But Russian-Australian relations have reached probably the lowest point in decades. So, I think whatever co-operation we had has been destroyed by the Australian side without giving much thought to what Australian interests are.”
On the eve of a potential meeting with China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Bali, Wong criticised Beijing’s ongoing support of Russia and its failure to publicly pressure Moscow over its war in Ukraine.
“As a great power, as a global leader and as a permanent member of the Security Council, China has a special responsibility to uphold the UN Charter and international law,” she said.
Despite China’s support of Russia, Wong said it was in Australia and China’s best interests to stabilise the relationship between the two countries, after almost three years of open hostility, $20 billion in trade strikes and diplomatic retaliation.
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong in Bali for the G20 foreign ministers meeting. Credit:Amilia Rosa
The foreign minister said no formal meeting had been set but the agenda at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting was “very fluid” and reiterated her desire to sit down with Wang. No Australian foreign minister has met with their Chinese counterpart since September 2019. Wong and Wang are both scheduled to attend a delegate’s welcome dinner on Thursday night.
“We believe it would be in China and Australia’s interests for this relationship to be stabilised,” Wong said. “We are willing to engage, and that willingness extends to any meeting on the margins of the G20.”
Chinese government-controlled media gave its strongest endorsement of a meeting between Wang and Wong to date on Wednesday evening after suggesting the Labor government had opened a window of opportunity to ease tensions between the two countries.
“It is to be hoped that with the worsening of their relations checked, the two sides will take the opportunity of the G20 Foreign Ministers Meeting in Bali, Indonesia, on Thursday and Friday to carry on the positive momentum with a meeting of their foreign ministers on the sidelines of the gathering,” China Daily said in an editorial.
But both sides still face significant structural hurdles to getting their relationship back on track.
Wong said trade sanctions against half a dozen Australian industries implemented after disputes over national security, human rights and COVID-19 had to be lifted.
Two Australians, Yang Hengjun and Cheng Lei, also remain in Chinese jails on vague espionage charges.
Beijing continues to be frustrated by Australian anti-dumping measures, the blocking of Chinese investments in non-sensitive industries, the destruction of Victoria’s Belt and Road agreement and the cancellation of visas for Chinese academics on national security grounds.
Wong said on Thursday that she would lobby Pacific Island nations against taking up security partnerships with China after Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare said he would like to see a permanent Chinese police presence in Honiara.
“We have a very strong view that Pacific security should be the responsibility of the Pacific family and that will be the approach Australia takes both to the Pacific Islands foreign ministers meeting tomorrow and the Pacific Island leaders meeting next week,” she said.
After flying into Denpasar on Thursday Wong held individual meetings with Fiji’s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
On Thursday night Wong was sitting down with Japan Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and South Korea’s Park Jin after a gathering of the MIKTA group, which comprises Australia, Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea and Turkey.
In a statement, Indonesia’s foreign ministry said Wong had reaffirmed Australia’s support for Indonesia’s presidency of the G20 “in the midst of a difficult situation”.
“Both foreign ministers are of the view that the G20 must continue to work to remain relevant and able to help find solutions to various global economic problems,” the Indonesian statement said.
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