Editorial: Why is Australia ignoring pleas from Volodymyr Zelensky to reopen our embassy?

An Australian diplomatic presence in Ukraine matters.

Anthony Albanese himself said so when he met with Volodymyr Zelensky in July 2022, posing for photos with the Ukrainian leader and condemning what he said was a “brutal invasion” by Russia in “gross violation of international law”.

At the time, the Prime Minister said his and other visits by world leaders sent “a clear message that democratic nations like Australia will stand side-by-side with the Ukrainian people in their time of need”.

What message then, does the shuttering of Australia’s embassy in Kyiv for two years send?

Certainly not one that Australia is willing to do its part in standing up to tyranny.

What message does it send that Australia’s ambassador-designate to Ukraine is yet to set foot in the country and is instead holed up in Poland?

Note that Paul Lehmann’s title is that of “ambassador-designate”, not “ambassador”. That’s because Mr Zelensky, fed up with Australia’s dithering, has declined to confirm his appointment.

That’s a message.

Mr Zelensky has pleaded with Australia to reopen its embassy in Kyiv for the past year.

But those pleas have been ignored.

According to the office of Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong, “it’s a WH&S issue”. A bureaucratic answer to what is to Ukrainians an existential question.

Sixty-seven other countries, including Indonesia, Japan, Canada, the US and UK, have overcome those “WH&S issues” to reopen their embassies in Ukraine.

And in the meantime, Australia has slipped from being the biggest non-NATO financial contributor to the Ukrainian war effort to the sixth.

Australia has chosen not to fulfil Ukraine’s request for Hawkei military vehicles. Retired fleets of F/A-18 Hornet aircraft and MRH-90 Taipan helicopters will be scrapped instead of being given to Ukraine.

Safety concerns, we are told. There is some validity to those concerns. The Taipan was the aircraft involved in the crash which killed four ADF personnel off Queensland last year.

But there’s a war going on — the standards are different. If it’s a level of risk Ukraine, with its eyes wide open, is willing to accept, Australia should allow it to do so.

Putting aside the significant moral imperative to do more in order to save Ukrainian lives, Australia should also be motivated to step up out of self interest.

Our waning enthusiasm in standing up to Vladimir Putin and his illegal war sends an extremely worrisome message.

It says Western democracies like ours will lose interest eventually. All you have to do is persist with your aggression long enough.

And it’s not just Putin who will be listening to that message.

Other autocrats — including those in our region — are listening in too.

We must think carefully about what we are saying.

Responsibility for the Editorial comment is taken by Editor-in-Chief Anthony De Ceglie.