THE HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF UKRAINE’S RELATIONS WITH AUSTRALIA

Abstract

The article discusses the main milestones in the development of Ukrainian-Australian relations since the early 1990s up to the present day. Australia recognized Ukraine as a sovereign and independent state on December 26, 1991, and on January 10, 1992, diplomatic relations were established between the two states. However, the Embassy of Ukraine in Australia was opened only on April 14, 2003. The official visit of the Australian parliamentary delegation to Ukraine in June-July 2004 became the important evidence of support for the statehood democratic course of Ukraine. The first visit of the President of Ukraine to Australia took place in December 2014.

The investigation of the MH17 plane crash gave the impetus for the intensification of relations between Ukraine and Australia. During the terrorist attack, 38 Australian citizens were killed. This event strengthened Australia’s empathy for Ukraine, which is waging a fierce existential war against the aggressor country Russia. Ukraine and Australia signed the “Agreement between Ukraine and Australia on the Deployment of Australian Personnel to Ukraine in Connection with the Crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17” (2014).

Russia’s full-scale invasion of the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, was another milestone in the history of relations between Ukraine and Australia. Ukraine was the first state visited by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese (July 3, 2022). Australia supports Ukraine at the diplomatic and political level. Financial, material, military, and humanitarian assistance to our country from Australia, one of the G20 countries and Ukraine’s largest donor in Oceania, does not stop. In 2024, Australia provided the largest aid package in its history to Ukraine.