A former Australian prime minister has said his country should be “prepared to make a contribution” to protect the freedom of Ukraine.
Tony Abbott told Sky News’ Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that no country “will be safe against a bully” if Vladimir Putin wins the war.
He called on Britain to take the lead in protecting Ukraine even without a US backstop – but said all the free countries of the world should be “prepared to make a stand”.
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Mr Abbott, who led the conservative Liberal Party, said: “I personally think that Australia should be prepared to make a contribution to the long term freedom and security of Ukraine.
“The Ukrainians have been fighting for the freedom of everyone. And if Putin is able to snuff out the freedom and the independence of Ukraine, what smaller country anywhere is safe against a bully?
“Is Taiwan safe? Is Australia, for that matter, safe? Is Japan safe?
“This is why it’s important that whatever the Americans ultimately do, the free countries of the world are prepared to make a stand in support of the freedom of Ukraine.”
It comes after Sir Keir Starmer urged America to provide a “security guarantee” to deter Putin and said he is prepared to send British troops to Ukraine if a peace deal is made.
The UK prime minister was speaking following a summit of continental leaders that was arranged by French President Emmanuel Macron, after Donald Trump shocked the world by arranging bilateral talks between the US and Russia – excluding Europe and Ukraine.
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Mr Abbott said Mr Trump “will blight his second presidency” if he hands a victory to Putin.
“If the result of anything the American president does is to leave Ukraine broken, defenceless, and ultimately a colony of imperial Russia, I think that would be a tragedy,” he said.
He said Sir Keir was “sensible and brave” to consider sending peace keeping troops, but he should be prepared to do this without America’s help, and on its own if necessary.
He said: “Britain is a substantial power. After the United States, it’s the second most powerful country, notwithstanding the current weakness of the British Army. And it should be prepared to take a stand for freedom by protecting Ukraine.
“Britain should be prepared to lead here and it should not expect yet again to ride on America’s coat tails.”
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Mr Trump has said the US no longer sees the defence of Europe as its primary concern in a major change of policy since the Second World War.
It has prompted calls for the UK and other NATO countries to increase defence spending.
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Speaking after the Paris summit on Monday night, Sir Keir said a “US security guarantee” is the only path to peace in Ukraine.
But he also insisted “Europe must play its role”, adding: “I’m prepared to consider committing British forces on the ground alongside others if there is a lasting peace agreement.
“So I will go to Washington next week to meet President Trump and discuss what we see as the key elements of a lasting peace.”
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However, despite three hours of emergency talks, European leaders left the meeting without a common view.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described the idea of deploying European peacekeepers as “completely premature” and said it was “completely the wrong time to have this discussion”.
And Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen said her country was “open to discussing many things” but stressed her nation was still very far off deploying its own soldiers to Ukraine.
Watch the full interview on the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge from 6.30pm
