Ukraine war

Australia considers participation in peacekeeping force

(Bild: APA/AFP/PETER PARKS)

The Australian government is following the call of France and Great Britain and apparently wants to become part of a "coalition of the willing" in the Ukraine war. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared on Tuesday that his government was prepared to participate in a peacekeeping force.

Australia is not a member of NATO, but is one of the alliance's global partners. On Monday, the government in Canberra had emphasized that there were no plans to participate in a peacekeeping mission, even though Australia stands "shoulder to shoulder" with Ukraine. Australian media have now spoken of a clear U-turn. 

"Putin must not be rewarded"
"Australia has played an important role in many areas in the past, including in Africa, in Cyprus and in a number of peacekeeping areas," said Albanese. "We want peace in Ukraine, but we also want to ensure that Russia's illegal, immoral actions are not rewarded - and that Vladimir Putin and his imperialist designs are not rewarded or encouraged either."

Following a meeting of European allies of Ukraine in London on Sunday, British Prime Minister Keith Starmer called for the formation of a "coalition of the willing" to initiate concrete security guarantees for Ukraine. Together with France, the UK initially wants to develop a new peace plan for a ceasefire. Following the unprecedented rift between US President Donald Trump and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyi in the White House, Ukraine's supporters seem to have to cope without the USA. 

Following the rebuff in Washington, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi received support in London from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.(Bild: APA/JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP)

How long will the stockpile of weapons and ammunition last?
It was previously estimated that the Ukrainian military would be able to continue fighting at the same intensity for around six months with the arms supplies initiated by former US President Joe Biden. Ukraine also receives a lot of support from other Western countries. However, it is highly questionable whether this can compensate for the loss of US aid. The supplies from the USA cannot be replaced, particularly in terms of missiles for the Patriot air defense systems. There is now a threat of weaknesses in the air defense system that the Russian military could exploit for attacks with ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. There would be hardly any protection for the ailing energy system, arms factories and other strategically important Russian targets.