The US has changed. Australia hasn't. It's time to talk about where the relationship goes from here
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Sydney Morning Herald
42 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Posturing over peace: What Trump and Putin's meeting was really about
Friday's summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin came together with all the finesse that we've come to expect from the US president and his administration. The pomp kicked off with Putin, a man who orders the bombing of Ukrainian cities every night, stepping onto a red carpet at an Alaskan air base that largely exists to keep an eye on his country. Historically, teams from the White House spend weeks or months putting these kinds of meetings together. There are extensive security checks, detailed agendas and countless negotiations about the optics and curation to ensure that no one gets the upper hand. When I worked at the White House, I was part of the team that planned the 2023 meeting between US president Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which took months of detailed work. Yet this summit came about over the course of a couple of days. After Trump announced a unilateral ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, Putin shelled Kyiv to demonstrate how little the words of a foreign leader mean to him. I was in Kyiv that night, watching the drones and missiles strike civilian apartments – a brutal reminder of the human cost of Putin's imperial ambitions. The options for the summit's location were limited due to Putin having an arrest warrant out against him from the International Criminal Court and Trump being a convicted felon. Few countries were willing to grant the meeting any diplomatic legitimacy, and many wouldn't allow one or both leaders into the country at all. Loading And so that left Alaska, a former Russian territory purchased by the United States in 1867, at an air base built to monitor Russian airspace and its massive nuclear arsenal, and respond to threats coming from across the Pacific. I've worked on plenty of stops at the Elmendorf-Richardson base. Usually, it is where a US official stops to refuel their plane on the way to a destination in Asia. It's not typically the site of diplomatic negotiations. And it showed. Though the tarmac photos were impressive, the pipe-and-drape walls around storage rooms gave the feel of an underfunded campaign stop in the last venue available in town.
Sydney Morning Herald
42 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Prime Minister says he remains hopeful of Russia, Ukraine ceasefire
'We want to see the sovereignty of Ukraine protected,' he said. 'It is a good thing that President Trump is an advocate for peace; what we want to see is that the sovereignty of Ukraine be protected and that the illegal and immoral invasion conducted by Mr Putin and Russia are not rewarded. 'It's important as well now for international rule of law. It's also important because of the precedent that Russia's invasion sets of a powerful nation invading a much smaller nation and engaging in the brutality - which we have seen at a great cost to the Ukrainian people, but also at a great cost to Russian soldiers who have lost their lives.' Albanese made the comments at a resources, science and technology showcase in Perth on Sunday, which was hosted by Seven West Media ahead of a planned economic roundtable next week. He said Western Australia is at the centre of the federal government's plans to transition to renewable energy, with the showcase is expected to attract about 20,000 people to highlight WA's resources, science, and technology industries. Loading 'We want to see a more productive, a more vibrant, a more dynamic Australian economy,' Albanese said. 'WA is at the centre of that.' Albanese pointed out it was his 36th visit to the state since he became Prime Minister. 'We understand that the jobs and the economic activity that is created here in the west is so important,' he said. 'What we're also seeing with this showcase is the way the industries are being transformed by new technology, by artificial intelligence - but at the front and centre of it all is of course our labour force.' The showcase comes ahead of the federal government's roundtable next week, which will advocates and experts from around the country to discuss ways to raise the country's productivity levels. 'What will happen over the next three days of the forum is that people will put forward ideas; they'll feed into government decision-making. 'There'll be some measures that can be adopted immediately if the government adopts it, and there'll be some that feed into budget processes, but there'll be some about the long-term challenges in the global economy [and] the impact in Australia.' Albanese said he intended to meet with industry leaders - including Seven West Media's chief and WesTrac and Coates Hire owner Kerry Stokes. When asked how he squared supporting the oil and gas industry with the government's net-zero policy, he said he was aiming for a 'sensible' transition. 'That is precisely what industry here and the resources sector here are committing too as well - we're working with industry on that transition because what that means is opportunities for jobs and growth here in Western Australia by contributing to our national economy.'
The Age
42 minutes ago
- The Age
Prime Minister says he remains hopeful of Russia, Ukraine ceasefire
'We want to see the sovereignty of Ukraine protected,' he said. 'It is a good thing that President Trump is an advocate for peace; what we want to see is that the sovereignty of Ukraine be protected and that the illegal and immoral invasion conducted by Mr Putin and Russia are not rewarded. 'It's important as well now for international rule of law. It's also important because of the precedent that Russia's invasion sets of a powerful nation invading a much smaller nation and engaging in the brutality - which we have seen at a great cost to the Ukrainian people, but also at a great cost to Russian soldiers who have lost their lives.' Albanese made the comments at a resources, science and technology showcase in Perth on Sunday, which was hosted by Seven West Media ahead of a planned economic roundtable next week. He said Western Australia is at the centre of the federal government's plans to transition to renewable energy, with the showcase is expected to attract about 20,000 people to highlight WA's resources, science, and technology industries. Loading 'We want to see a more productive, a more vibrant, a more dynamic Australian economy,' Albanese said. 'WA is at the centre of that.' Albanese pointed out it was his 36th visit to the state since he became Prime Minister. 'We understand that the jobs and the economic activity that is created here in the west is so important,' he said. 'What we're also seeing with this showcase is the way the industries are being transformed by new technology, by artificial intelligence - but at the front and centre of it all is of course our labour force.' The showcase comes ahead of the federal government's roundtable next week, which will advocates and experts from around the country to discuss ways to raise the country's productivity levels. 'What will happen over the next three days of the forum is that people will put forward ideas; they'll feed into government decision-making. 'There'll be some measures that can be adopted immediately if the government adopts it, and there'll be some that feed into budget processes, but there'll be some about the long-term challenges in the global economy [and] the impact in Australia.' Albanese said he intended to meet with industry leaders - including Seven West Media's chief and WesTrac and Coates Hire owner Kerry Stokes. When asked how he squared supporting the oil and gas industry with the government's net-zero policy, he said he was aiming for a 'sensible' transition. 'That is precisely what industry here and the resources sector here are committing too as well - we're working with industry on that transition because what that means is opportunities for jobs and growth here in Western Australia by contributing to our national economy.'
