On Australia sending peace keepers to Ukraine, Malcolm Turnbull says:

Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull gives an address on Sovereignty and Security – Australia and the new world disorder at the National Press Club Of Australia in Canberra, Tuesday, April 1, 2025.

I thought Albanese made the right decision there and I’ll explain why. He stayed in the conversation. The signal Dutton was sending will be seen as washing our hands of Ukraine. It was quite… I think it was the wrong judgement call. And everyone makes mistakes. I think he made a wrong call there. Obviously peacekeepers do not go there unless there is peace and the Russians have said they’ll never accept them. So this is all hypothetical.

What Albanese said was, yes, we’ll stay in the conversation. We’re committed to supporting Ukraine. We’ll send someone along to the meeting and, you know, subject to a million factors, we are not, in principle – we are, in principle, happy to be part of it. I think that was a better call. He hasn’t committed to anything and, as I said, peacekeepers only turn up if there is peace. So I think Peter, you know – and, again, as you know, we’ve identified a few potential errors I made but we all make mistakes.

There it is. I don’t think much will turn on it, but it sent – I thought it sent the wrong signal to be honest. I think solidarity with Ukraine is very important and it’s important if you want to distinguish yourself from Trump too, if that’s part of your political mission, your communication mission.