Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has called out Donald Trump for making inflammatory and misleading statements about Ukraine and its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in a striking contrast to senior Albanese government ministers’ reluctance to directly criticise the US president.
The Australian-Ukrainian community has pleaded with the government to speak out more strongly in defence of Ukraine after Trump called Zelensky a “dictator without elections” and claimed the war was Ukraine’s fault, despite Russia invading its smaller neighbour in 2022.
“I think President Trump has got it wrong in relation to some of the public commentary that I’ve seen him make in relation to President Zelensky and the situation in the Ukraine,” Dutton told 2GB radio on Thursday.