Australia will send armoured vehicles to Ukraine following a request from the country’s President.
Volodymyr Zelensky used an address to Federal Parliament on Thursday to plead for army Bushmaster vehicles to help in his country’s fight against Russian forces.
“You have very good armed personnel vehicles, the bushmasters, that could help Ukraine substantially and other pieces of equipment that could strengthen our position in terms of armaments. If you have an opportunity to share this with us we would be very grateful,” President Zelensky said.
“In Ukraine, they would do much more for our common freedom, common security than staying parked on your land.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrison confirmed on Friday that they have agreed to the President’s request.
“We’re not just sending our prayers, we’re sending our guns, we’re sending our munitions, we’re sending our humanitarian aid were sending all of this, our body armour all of these things and we’re going to be sending our armoured vehicles, our Bushmasters as well,” The Prime Minister said.
“We’ll be flying them over on our C-17s to make sure they can be there to support.
“I thank President Zelensky for coming and addressing our parliament and reminding not just all of us who are were the parliament but all Australians of what is at stake here.”
The Prime Minister says they are still working out how many vehicles will be sent.
“The Defence Minister and I discussed this last night and again today. We’ll be confirming those details and I’ll be confirming those with the Ukrainian president as well and their Prime Minister and their Defence Minister.
“We’ve been in constant dialogue around a range of issues. You can anticipate the support will be greater.”
The Prime Minister also announced on Thursday that Australia would provide a further $25 million worth of military equipment to Ukraine.
The equipment will include tactical decoys, unmanned aerial and ground systems, rations and medical supplies.
