Anthony Albanese condemns Russia’s ‘reckless and dangerous’ use of force after Poland missile strike
Australia’s prime minister has condemned Russia’s “reckless and dangerous use of force” after G7 leaders staged an emergency session on the sidelines of the G20 summit to assess a blast from a Russian-made missile in Poland that killed two civilians.
Anthony Albanese joined calls for an inquiry into the incident during a meeting with leaders from the European Union on Wednesday on the sidelines of the G20, and he expressed condolences to Poland.
“We need to have a full investigation as to how this has occurred and the circumstances,” the prime minister said. “That must take place, and then we should consider what as an international community is an appropriate response.”
The incident in Poland derailed the opening hours of the G20 summit as leaders from the G7 gathered early to assess the available information. Speaking to reporters after that huddle, the president of the United States, Joe Biden, expressed incredulity that Russia could escalate aggression while world leaders were gathered in Bali “to urge de-escalation”.
But when asked by a reporter to address reports the missile was linked to Russia, Biden suggested it was unlikely it was fired from there. “There is preliminary information that contests that.”
“I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate it but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia but we’ll see.”
Biden said the world backed an investigation by Poland to establish the facts and he gave unqualified support to Ukraine. “Our empathy, sympathy goes out to … apparently two people were killed, and then we are going to collectively determine our next step as we investigate and proceed.”
The president characterised Russia’s conduct during the war as “totally unconscionable”.
“We support Ukraine fully in this moment,” Biden said. “We have since the start of this conflict and will continue to do whatever it takes to give them the capacity to defend themselves.”
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The Polish embassy in Canberra issued a statement saying a Russianmade missile dropped on the village of Przewodow in south-eastern Poland, near the border with Ukraine, on 15 November, and confirming the Polish government had launched an investigation.
Russia had been represented at the G20 by the country’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, rather than the president, Vladimir Putin. But Lavrov left Bali on Tuesday night, before Wednesday’s huddle by G7 leaders.
Back in Australia, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, urged China to use its influence with Russia to counsel restraint. Wong’s comments follow a breakthrough meeting between Albanese and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 on Tuesday night.
Asked whether she hoped China would intervene, Wong said the world looked to China as a great power and a permanent member of the UN security council “to use its influence to end a war that is not only illegal and immoral but a war that risks security, and we all want peace”.
The war in Ukraine has cast a long shadow over the G20 summit and sparked an internal tussle over the wording of the final communique. Most G20 members wanted strong language condemning the conflict recorded in the statement, but Russia and China have objected.
The final wording noted that “most” G20 members strongly condemned the war in Ukraine and stressed the conflict was causing “immense human suffering and exacerbating existing fragilities in the global economy – constraining growth, increasing inflation, disrupting supply chains, heightening energy and food security, and elevating financial stability risks”. The statement noted “there were other views and different assessments of the situation and sanctions”.
Albanese was continuing his summit program on Wednesday evening, meeting the leaders of France, India and the United Kingdom. Meetings with Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron were expected to focus on cooperation in defence and on climate change, while the meeting with Narendra Modi was geared around expanding trade and investment opportunities.
After the G20 summit concludes on Wednesday, Albanese will fly to Thailand for the Apec summit.