Scott Morrison also suggested that Russia’s invasion was not going according to the plan of its leader.


Communist China must act on its declarations of promoting world peace and join the effort to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Australia’s prime minister said on Monday, warning that the world was in danger of being reshaped by an “arc of autocracy”.

I was listening for the voice of the Chinese government when it came to condemning the actions of Russia and there was a chilling silence, he said.

China has declined to call the Russian attack on Ukraine an “invasion” while asking Western countries to respect Russia’s “legitimate security concerns”. It has called for a solution to the crisis through negotiations.

Mr. Morrison called it a “gross violation of international law” and “the latest example of an authoritarian regime seeking to challenge the status quo through threats and violence”.

Mr. Morrison, whose comments represent a sharpening of Australia’s criticism of China, also suggested its silence revealed a natural affinity with Russia that had far-reaching implications.

A new arc of autocracy is instinctively aligning to challenge and reset the world order in their own image, he said.

Australia's Prime Minister questioned whether the invasion was going to Putin’s plan, as Putin has said it was.

There is no doubt that Mr Putin is not getting what he was seeking, Morrison said.

I think he’s overestimated the capacity of how he might be able to prosecute this illegal war. The way that he has just sent young conscripts into flames, I don’t see how that would be resonating well back in Russia, he concluded.