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Foreign Minister Penny Wong will use her speech at Friday's UN General Assembly meeting to label Vladimir Putin's nuclear threats "weak and desperate", while calling on China and the global community to ramp up pressure on Moscow to end its invasion of Ukraine.
Key points:
- Penny Wong will intensify her criticism of Russia after it announced it will mobilise hundreds of thousands of people to fight in Ukraine
- The foreign minister will take aim at Russia's conduct at the United Nations during the war in Ukraine
- She'll call on Beijing to ramp up pressure on Moscow to bring the war to an end
Australia has been a forceful critic of Russia's invasion and has been the largest donor of military equipment to Ukraine outside of NATO.
Senator Wong will intensify her criticism in the wake of Mr Putin's announcement earlier this week that Russia will mobilise hundreds of thousands of people to fight in Ukraine after suffering a series of military setbacks.
"We cannot accept a situation where large countries determine the fate of smaller countries. That is why Russia's illegal, immoral invasion of Ukraine cannot be normalised and it cannot be minimised," Senator Wong will say, according to a copy of her speech distributed to the media.
"Russia's attack on Ukraine is an attack on all smaller countries. It is an assertion that a larger country is entitled to subjugate a smaller neighbour — to decide whether another country can even exist."
Mr Putin made thinly-veiled threats to use nuclear weapons when announcing the partial mobilisation, saying Russia would "certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us" if its "territorial integrity" was threatened.
Senator Wong called his warning "unthinkable" earlier this week, and she'll tell the General Assembly on Friday that they were also a reminder of the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.
"Mr Putin's weak and desperate nuclear threats underline the danger that nuclear weapons pose to us all, and the urgent need for progress on nuclear disarmament," the speech says.
"Australia has always pursued a world without nuclear weapons, and we will redouble our efforts towards this goal — and to strengthening the non-proliferation regime."
Foreign minister to call on China to ramp up pressure on Moscow
The foreign minister will also take aim at Russia's conduct at the United Nations during the war in Ukraine.
Earlier this year Russia used its position as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to block a resolution denouncing its invasion of Ukraine, while China abstained.
Senator Wong will suggest that Russia's actions risk undermining the credibility of the body.
"It was never intended that the Security Council veto power would be used to enable unchecked abuse of the UN charter — by the very countries that were given the veto," the foreign minister will say.
Separately, she'll reiterate that Australia backs reform of the Security Council to ensure "greater permanent representation for Africa, Latin America, and Asia, including India and Japan."
She'll also briefly call once again on Beijing to ramp up pressure on Russia to bring the war to an end.
"It is especially important for countries that play leading roles in international fora, and countries with influence on Russia, to exert their influence to end this war," she will say.
"In this pursuit, the world looks to China, a great power, a Permanent Member of the Security Council, with a "no limits partnership" with Russia."