Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Australia to open embassy in Kiev in show of solidarity. "There will be no Australian uranium sales to Russia" (Tony Abbott)

Australia will open an embassy in Kiev and is considering providing military assistance to Ukraine, Prime Minister Tony Abbott told Parliament on Wednesday.

Abbott said the "interim" embassy would support nine Australian federal police investigators who are in Ukraine investigating the Malaysia Airlines MH17 tragedy.

He said the government was also considering short-term humanitarian and "non-lethal" military assistance to Ukraine.


"Australia and Ukraine are geographically distant but we have grown close in responding to the MH17 atrocity in which 37 Australians were murdered," Abbott said.

"In the medium term, we are considering civil and military capacity-building assistance to that country," he added.

Abbott said Australia was grateful for Ukraine's help in recovering the bodies of passengers on MH17, which was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July with the loss of nearly 300 lives.

"The government, and I believe the Australian people, would like to repay Ukraine for its support and friendship, especially as Ukraine continues to be subject to active destabilization and indeed outright invasion from Russia, a country it has never ever sought to harm." the PM said.

"We will do what we can to help our friends and to uphold the rule of law around the world, " said Abbott.

"I am pleased that our flag will shortly fly alongside Ukraine's as a sign of our support in these troubled times."

Abbott also confirmed Australia had suspended uranium exports to Russia.

In recent days, Australian government has increased its trade sanctions against Russia over its response to the Malaysia Airlines plane attack, as well as its stance on Ukraine.

During question time, Greens MP Adam Bandt asked Abbott whether uranium sales would be added to the sanctions.

"There will be no Australian uranium sales to Russia until further notice and Australia has no intention of selling uranium to a country which is so obviously in breach of international law as Russia currently is," Abbott said.


-----
Earlier in the day, in addressing the fraught situation in Iraq, Abbott described the apparent beheading of an American journalist by Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants as "pure evil", arguing it justifies Australia's actions "to protect people who are at risk from this murderous rage" in Iraq.

The prime minister condemned the "hideous movement" as the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, said Australia had contingency plans to allow the removal of diplomatic staff from the embassy in Baghdad if the situation in the Iraqi capital deteriorated.

An ISIS video, released on Tuesday, purported to show the beheading of a second captive American journalist, Steven Sotloff, and contained a chilling warning that a British hostage would be the next to die.

The masked man in the video, speaking in a British accent, called on the US President Barack Obama to stop airstrikes against ISIS targets in Iraq.

Abbott said ISIS was a threat "not just to the people of the Middle East but to the wider world."

"This just demonstrates that we are dealing with pure evil," he said of the video. "This is a hideous movement that not only does evil, it revels in evil, it exalts in evil, and it abundantly justifies what Australia and other countries are doing to assist people who are threatened by this murderous rage, to protect people who are at risk from this murderous rage."

Sources: Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
3/9/14

No comments:

Post a Comment

Only News

Featured Post

US Democratic congresswoman : There is no difference between 'moderate' rebels and al-Qaeda or the ISIS

United States Congresswoman and Democratic Party member Tulsi Gabbard on Wednesday revealed that she held a meeting with Syrian Presiden...

Blog Widget by LinkWithin