{"id":732420,"date":"2026-06-12T19:00:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/732420\/"},"modified":"2026-06-12T19:00:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T19:00:14","slug":"stalled-ukraine-security-pact-could-leave-australia-fighting-with-one-hand-behind-its-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/732420\/","title":{"rendered":"Stalled Ukraine security pact could leave Australia \u2018fighting with one hand behind its back\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MatthewSave<\/p>\n

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A proposed security treaty with Ukraine has been stalled for almost a year, hampering Australia\u2019s ability to tap into Ukraine\u2019s expertise in drones and other advanced military technologies gained from its four-year war against Russia.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has signed bilateral security agreements with 28 nations including the United Kingdom, Japan and Canada, as well as the European Union, making Australia a notable omission.<\/p>\n

\"Ukraine\u2019sUkraine\u2019s efforts to repel Russia\u2019s invasion have seen it become a pioneer in the use of low-cost drones.AP Photo\/Andrii Marienko<\/p>\n

The deal could allow Ukrainian drone companies to set up operations in Australia, boosting the local manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n

Negotiations on an agreement began around April last year and there were hopes Zelensky and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could seal the deal on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York last September.<\/p>\n

The leaders were unable to arrange a meeting, and a possible meeting at the G7 summit in France next week was scotched when French President Emmanuel Macron did not invite Albanese to the event.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Anatolii<\/a><\/p>\n

Ukraine\u2019s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, said: \u201cI hope our leaders can meet soon so an agreement can be signed sooner rather than later.\u201d<\/p>\n

Myroshnychenko warned in a speech last month that Australia risked \u201cfighting with one hand behind your back\u201d unless it leverages Ukraine\u2019s military expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf major-power warfare comes to the Indo-Pacific, Australia will have no choice but to be very good at asymmetric warfare and countermeasures. Australia does not need to learn these lessons through blood,\u201d he told the Indo-Pacific Defence Conference in Perth.<\/p>\n

\u201cUkraine is now able to work with Australia not as a supplicant, but as a genuine defence and security partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Noting the array of security agreements Ukraine has struck with other countries, Myroshnychenko said: \u201cUkraine is ready, willing and able to exchange hard-won battlefield knowledge, operational expertise and defence technology expertise for the kinds of military support Ukraine still cannot generate alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said negotiations on a security agreement were ongoing but there was no imminent prospect of a deal being finalised.<\/p>\n

A meeting between Albanese and Zelensky at the UN this September appears to be the best chance to sign a security pact this year, unless the prime minister decides to visit Ukraine.<\/p>\n

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said: \u201cAustralia continues to provide meaningful and targeted support to Ukraine as it defends itself against Russia\u2019s unprovoked and unjustified full-scale invasion, with over $1.7 billion in assistance committed to date.\u201d<\/p>\n

Retired major-general Mick Ryan said the lack of a bilateral security agreement meant the Australian Defence Force was missing out on crucial battlefield insights Ukraine has garnered from over four years of fighting against Russia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got more to learn from them than they do from us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cA security agreement with Ukraine would be extraordinarily beneficial for Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ryan, who has visited Ukraine six times since Putin\u2019s 2022 invasion, said such a deal could unlock opportunities for Australian and Ukrainian troops to train in each other\u2019s countries, expand intelligence sharing and allow the joint production of advanced military technologies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the Ukrainians to be coming here and training us in drone and counter-drone technologies, how to protect critical infrastructure and how to manage police, fire and ambulance services in a war,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is so much we can learn from Ukraine on the use of artificial intelligence; missile defence systems; air, sea and land drones; cognitive warfare \u2013 the list goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA kangaroo mascot alongside the Ukrainian flag on the side of a Bushmaster. Australia has sent dozens of the armoured vehicles to the war-ravaged country.Kate Geraghty<\/p>\n

Australia would be expected to provide additional security assistance to Ukraine as part of the deal.<\/p>\n

Ryan argued in a paper for the Lowy Institute published earlier this month that Australia and other Western nations had been \u201cdangerously slow\u201d to learn lessons of modern warfare from Ukraine, especially the central role of drones.<\/p>\n

\u201cOperation Kudu \u2014 Australia\u2019s contribution to the multinational training mission for Ukrainian recruits in the United Kingdom \u2014 has had an unexpected effect: Australian soldiers are learning about drone operations and other aspects of modern war from the very recruits they are training,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"From<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cYet there is no systematic process for institutionalising those insights into doctrine, force structure, or procurement priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia has committed over $1.7 billion in total assistance to Ukraine, including $1.5 billion worth of military aid, including tanks and armoured vehicles.<\/p>\n

The government\u2019s most recent support package for Ukraine included a $50 million contribution to a NATO initiative to supply Ukraine with critical military equipment.<\/p>\n

Foreign Minister Penny Wong, alongside her British and Canadian counterparts, held a video meeting on Friday with Ukraine\u2019s first lady Olena Zelenska.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recognise the immense suffering of the Ukrainian people, the immense suffering of Ukrainian women and children – the result of Russia\u2019s unprovoked, unjustified invasion,\u201d Wong said.<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"MatthewMatthew Knott<\/a> is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a>, Facebook<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":732421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-732420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=732420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/732420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/732421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=732420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=732420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=732420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}