US cannot be weak on Ukraine, ambassador declares as North Korea brings war closer to Australia

The US cannot be seen as weak on Ukraine, the country’s ambassador to Australia believes, warning President-elect Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin only respected strength.

On a trip to Perth this week, Ukrainian ambassador to Australia and New Zealand Vasyl Myroshnychenko told The West that North Korea’s involvement in the war brought the conflict closer to home.

After Mr Trump’s election victory last week, the focus has turned to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the President-elect vowed during the campaign to end on “day one” of his administration.

Mr Myroshnychenko’s comments came as Mr Trump was tipped to announce Florida senator Marco Rubio as his top diplomat.

Senator Rubio has previously agreed with Mr Trump on withdrawing American support from the war.

“We remain optimistic that the strategy and approach of Donald Trump to international affairs, which is communicated as peace through strength, is aligned with our victory plan and is aligned with what we are trying to achieve in forcing Russia into peace,” Mr Myroshnychenko said.

“That is all built around the peace formula and plan that President Zelensky and the Ukrainian government have pursued for the past two years.

“We will have to see what the team is going to be, what the strategy is going to be, and what the approach is going to be.”

Despite Mr Trump’s commentary during the campaign that he would end the war quickly but raised the possibility of ceding land to the Russians, Mr Myroshnychenko urged America to remain strong.

“What is at stake just goes beyond party politics, especially the different statements during the campaign trail — but that was the campaign,” he said.

“America cannot be seen as weak; Vladimir Putin only understands strength. We have to keep it in mind.

“The outcomes of this war will define the global security architecture for many decades to come, and to ensure peace in Europe and beyond, we need to make sure that Russian aggression in Ukraine is not rewarded.

“If Russia is allowed to change borders right, other countries will feel like they can also change borders.”

Acknowledging the length of the war and conceding it was only human that Australians had turned out, Mr Myroshnychenko said recent news of North Korean soldiers assisting Russian forces brought the conflict closer to home.

“Australians have a very good understanding of what’s happening, but now what we are seeing is how it is actually getting much closer to Australia now,” he said.

“Now (North Korea) are actually deploying their troops on the ground; I think this must be of serious concern to Australia.

“Given that your key trading partners, China, South Korea and Japan, are just there in the region, any war in that area will undermine your interests.”