The new prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, promised more military aid and more sanctions against Russia during a visit to Ukraine on Sunday that signaled continued resolve by liberal democracies to support Ukraine’s effort to rebut the Russian invasion.
In a news conference in Kyiv, the capital, President Volodymyr Zelensky described the visit as the first by an Australian prime minister to his country during their history of diplomatic relations.
Mr. Albanese visited sites of Russian brutality during the war, including Bucha, a suburb of Kyiv, where Russian paratroopers executed at least eight Ukrainian men, and Hostomel, a town 10 miles outside Kyiv, where Russian forces held hundreds of civilians captive.
Australia plans to send Ukraine more armored vehicles and drones, among other supplies, and ban imports of Russian gold, Mr. Albanese said.
“Australia is ready to continue providing support to the Ukrainian state and its people,” he said, “for as long as it takes for Ukraine to gain an advantage and protect the law and order in which we all exist.”
The Biden administration’s effort to establish a global coalition of nations isolating Russia and aiding Ukraine has met resistance from countries perceived by Washington as neutral like India and Brazil, yet the U.S. and the European Union have found partners in not just Australia but other nations including Japan.
