Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne says eight Russian oligarchs who will be targeted with sanctions following the invasion of Ukraine are senior figures in mostly state-owned banks and all close to President Vladimir Putin.
“They have influence over decisions and have amassed great wealth through their positions of power,” Ms Payne said.
On Australia providingmedical equipment and non-lethal military equipment,she added:“We are going to provide funding to NATO to provide the supplies,that is the most effective way to do that given the distance and the time that it would take us to deliver such supplies.”
She said that the option of expelling Russian diplomats in Australia remains “a live option”. “It is not something that we are considering currently,it enables us to have a direct line of communication with the Russian government. We did call in the ambassador to meet with the Secretary of DFAT to make absolutely clear our views.”
Asked by the Herald if military assets would be moved to heightened readiness to assist the humanitarian operations,the minister said:“At this point in time,and my discussions in Europe certainly concerned a number of people moving into European neighbours in the first instance. Australia would always be ready to support,if that was required,and we have shown that we are able to do that with the challenges of 4000 people being airlifted from Afghanistan only last August. At this point in time our discussions have been overwhelmingly with European neighbours particularly,for example,Poland,where I visited Warsaw last week for that purpose.
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“We will work with the UN on humanitarian support and determine the best way to do that accordingly.”
In a message toUkrainians who would be marching in Sydney today,she added:“We share their very deep concerns and their fears for their family and for their friends. We have been supporting Australians in Ukraine and importantly encouraging them to leave. Many have chosen to stay with family. Most importantly they must stay safe,they must shelter in place and not endeavour to leave unless it is safe to do so.”