Is Australia still supporting Ukraine? Reality no longer matches rhetoric.

Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine has intensified over the past 12 months. Moscow’s bombing raids on Ukrainian cities typically consist of up to 800 missiles and killer drones per night. Civilian deaths have increased in turn.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong have stated on some 24 occasions that Australia “stands with Ukraine” over the past year. Australia has also acceded to the “coalition of the willing” in support of Ukraine.

In the last 12 months, by contrast, the Australian government has made no new contributions of any kind to Ukraine, whether military, humanitarian or reconstruction. In fact, the delivery of the full complement of the promised 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks has not yet been achieved, despite the commitment made in October 2024.

Don’t get me wrong. Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky are very grateful for the tanks received and, indeed, for the $1.5 billion in aid provided between 2022 and 2024. We are grateful for the solidarity declared by the government.

However, it is difficult to understand why substantial support has been suspended at a time when Ukraine needs it most. Unfortunately, there is a growing gap between the rhetoric about Ukraine and the reality of Ukrainian aid. I say this as an ambassador who is obliged to speak clearly about relations between our countries, but also as a Ukrainian father whose family apartment in kyiv is 500 meters from the fallen bombs.

This situation is particularly difficult to understand in the context of two economic aspects. On the first front, as recognized in the budget documents, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has caused a significant increase in global commodity prices, which in turn has significantly improved Australia’s terms of trade, injecting tens of billions of dollars in taxes, royalties and other revenues.

There is no doubt that the situation has significantly improved the Commonwealth’s budget situation. Simple math shows that for every dollar of war windfall Australia has received, only a few cents have returned to Ukraine in the form of Australian support.

Secondly, Australian fuel importers continue to bring Russian-origin fuel products to ports across the country. While Australia imposes sanctions on Russian crude oil, there is a widely exploited loophole through which Russian crude oil is “laundered” through refineries in third countries, including India and China.