Anthony Albanese says he'll treat Vladimir Putin with 'contempt' at G20 summit

The prime minister says world leaders would give Vladimir Putin the cold shoulder over his invasion of Ukraine, should the Russian leader attend the G20 summit.

A man speaking.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will treat Vladimir Putin with "contempt" at the G20 leaders' summit later this year, although he's doubtful Russia's president will attend.

Indonesia President Joko Widodo said in April that Mr Putin had confirmed his attendance for the November summit that will be held in Bali. It came against the backdrop of Western leaders calling for the Russian president to be excluded from the event.

"(I would treat Mr Putin) with the contempt that he deserves. If he does attend the G20 summit, which I doubt whether he will is my view, then the world needs to send a very clear message about how we regard him and his behaviour," he told Sky News on Thursday.

"I will act in partnership with other G20 leaders."
While the prime minister did not want to pre-empt the G20 response to the Russian invasion, discussions had taken place with leaders at the recent NATO summit on how measures would be implemented.

Mr Albanese said Australia would carry through with its commitments to support Ukraine during the conflict.

"If Ukraine doesn't prevail in the current conflict, if Russia doesn't withdraw from its brutal invasion, the consequences are dire if that does not occur," he said.

"The world has to be determined to see this through."

Mr Albanese this week to express Australia's solidarity with the war-torn country.

Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to Ukraine's battle to oust the invading Russian army and has provided a total of $390 million in military and humanitarian assistance. It has also sanctioned 843 individuals and 62 Russian entities.
Mr Albanese's comments come ahead of Foreign Minister Penny Wong coming face to face with her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Friday for the first time since the invasion began in February.

Senator Wong is attending a G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Bali this week, and the talks are expected to be overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and Mr Lavrov's presence.

Russia chose to "denigrate" international relations and multilateralism by invading Ukraine, Senator Wong said.

"If you want an example of a nation which has demonstrated its willingness, its disregard for the need for food security for a world recovering from a pandemic, it is Russia," she told reporters in Bali on Thursday.

"It is Russia in its persistent refusal to comply with the UN charter and international law, and its illegal, immoral invasion of Ukraine.

"We will be making very clear collectively our views about Russia's position and behaviour."
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Source: AAP
Senator Wong said multilateralism and addressing food and energy security will be the main themes of the foreign ministers' meeting.

She also welcomed the attendance of Ukraine's foreign minister at the G20, calling it an "important moment" for world leaders to hear about the consequences of the invasion.

Her comments came as Russia's ambassador to Australia said the relationship between the two countries had reached its lowest point in decades because of the government's support of Ukraine.

"Whatever cooperation we had has been destroyed by the Australian side without really giving much thought to what Australia's interests were," Russian ambassador Aleksey Pavlovsky told ABC radio on Thursday.

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Published 7 July 2022 10:05am
Updated 7 July 2022 6:07pm
Source: AAP, SBS


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