Andrew ‘Twiggy’ Forrest takes aim at US President Donald Trump over Ukraine stance

Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest has called for Australia to back Europe’s coalition of the willing, warning if the world allows those with the “biggest guns” to win, smaller countries will suffer.

Mr Forrest, speaking to The Nightly in London, also backed Volodomyr Zelensky against the attacks by US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance, who falsely accused him of being a “dictator”.

He said the only “bloodthirsty dictator” in the war was Russia’s Vladimir Putin, adding Mr Zelensky is “so far removed from a dictator”.

“He’s not a career politician. He went into it because he believed, and he was persuaded by friends and colleagues, that he had attitudes and beliefs which could really lead Ukraine,” Mr Forrest said.

“He’s an ex-comedian, I mean, how can an ex-comedian be a bloodthirsty dictator?”

Asked if Australia should commit to supporting Europe’s coalition of the willing to uphold any peace deal struck between Russia and Ukraine, Mr Forrest responded: “Without any doubt, without any doubt.”

“Because if we turn to a world where the biggest wins, because they’ve got the biggest guns, then the smaller countries like us will suffer,” the Fortescue boss said.

“And therefore, we should take a stand against those who seek to the upend the universal rule of law which has lasted since the Second World War and replace it with tyranny and bullying.”

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Australia would consider any request made by European leaders but stressed one had not been made.

“We’d make the point that at the moment there isn’t a peace to keep,” Mr Marles said on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke to UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Saturday about Australia being the first non-NATO country to contribute to the French and British-led efforts to guarantee Ukraine’s safety.

Europe wants the United States to contribute an ultimate security backstop to stop Russia from invading Ukraine in the future — defence bosses will meet in Paris this week to thrash out the details.

But the US is resisting Europe and Ukraine’s request, and since taking office, President Trump has turned America from being Ukraine’s staunchest ally to siding with Russia.

The US President has not only accused Mr Zelensky of being a dictator but also of starting the war which Russian President Vladimir Putin began with his full-scale invasion in February 2022. He and Vice-President Vance piled on Mr Zelensky in the Oval Office, pictured right, accusing the Ukrainian leader of not being thankful enough for US support.

The US has since cut military aid, intelligence and satellite data from the Ukrainians, helping Russia target and kill civilians ahead of peace talks scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia this week.

These actions strengthen Russia’s negotiating position by piling pressure on President Zelensky to accept a substandard peace deal.

When questioned about his actions in an interview with Fox News on Sunday, Mr Trump said of Ukraine: “It may not survive anyway.”

Mr Forrest said it caused him “angst and grief” to see America behaving in a way that was incongruous with the America that he’d known and had acted as the leader of the free world for eight decades and contrasted it to President Zelensky’s plea to Europe to stand up for itself.

“I’m grateful to the leadership of Zelensky and can only believe that the apparent alignment of Putin and Trump is a negotiating tactic of Trump’s,” Mr Forrest said. “If it isn’t, then of course our own alignment to North America cannot be reduced to a transaction.”

“And the age-old automatic acceptance of North America as a steadfast friend would have to be questioned if he deserts Europe for a business transaction.”

Mr Forrest, who has committed $500 million through his private investment company Tattarang to help fund Ukraine’s reconstruction after the fighting stops, said he had a direct message to the American people. “My message to every single American is that you’ve fought for 80 years against a totalitarian empire, which has threatened you consistently, murdered large numbers of your secret services, stolen your technology from the Manhattan Project at the end of World War II and used it against you ever since,” he said.

“And that is an undemocratically elected leader who’s now threatening a democracy, and that is not worth supporting in any way, shape or form.”

Mr Forrest was wearing his trademark blue suit and yellow tie — the colours of Ukraine’s flag – that he wears when in Europe, as well as a Ukrainian flag badge pinned on his jacket lapel.

His charity, Minderoo Foundation, has spent $20 million and committed $5 million more to demine agricultural land, buying 169 generators for Ukraine’s emergency services to help overcome power shortages caused by Russian attacks on the energy grid and funding grain delivery and storage to help the Ukrainian economy.

The age-old automatic acceptance of North America as a steadfast friend would have to be questioned if he deserts Europe for a business transaction.