No Australian troops will be sent in support of Ukraine, says Prime Minister Scott Morrison as he admits the invasion of Ukraine by Russia is "imminent".
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Instead Australia will support the besieged country, which has more than a hundred thousand Russian troops on its border, though other means and referenced Australia's role in the intelligence community.
Mr Morrison said Australia has not been asked to provide troops, "nor would we be providing support through troops or anything of that nature" in remarks in Darwin on the anniversary of the city's bombing 80 years ago.
"We work with our allies and partners in many other ways, and we will seek to do that in with the practical things that we can do to assist those efforts," Mr Morrison said.
He said he has held discussions with the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and others about that assistance.
"We're very well-informed of the events that have been taking place in Ukraine and on their border. There hasn't been any withdrawal of Russian troops from the borders."
The Prime Minister said there was no pretence for Ukraine's invasion by Russia and no provocation or justification for it.
"They cannot use the threat of war and invasion as a way of trying to leverage and negotiate other changes that they may be seeking. That is not how free nations, democratic nations, nations that are in favour of peace should behave. We've seen this before, and we cannot allow it to stand."
He said the Australian government stands in support of statements made overnight by US President Joe Biden, who said Russia's leader Vladimir Putin had made the decision to invade Ukraine.
"We have reason to believe the Russian forces are planning to and intend to attack Ukraine in the coming week, in the coming days," Mr Biden told reporters at the White House.
"As of this moment I am convinced that he has made the decision."
Media outlets are reporting that separatists backed by Moscow have told civilians to leave breakaway regions on buses, a move the West fears is part of a pretext for an attack.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese echoed the Prime Minister's concerns.
"The ravages of war in the Ukraine, if Russia carries out a military intervention, will be devastating for the people of Ukraine. But also, there'll be loss of life and economic consequences as well for a period to come," Mr Albanese told reporters in Darwin on Saturday.
"So, I'd say to Russia, it needs to respect Ukrainians' sovereignty. And it needs to back off now."
On Thursday, Defence Minister Peter Dutton warned that war was imminent, as European leaders worked on a diplomatic solution.
"That really is going to result in the loss of innocent life," Mr Dutton said.
"We've seen it before in eastern Europe. We don't want it repeated but we live in a very uncertain world."
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