Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with NATO leaders in Brussels later today, where he's expected to raise the issue of whether foreign peacekeeping troops could be deployed to Ukraine as Russia’s invasion continues. Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been at NATO headquarters in Brussels ahead of the meeting.
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00:00Australia isn't a member of NATO, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, but is a partner
00:08in the Indo-Pacific. Penny Wong has travelled here to Brussels to meet with the new head
00:13of NATO, Mark Rutter, for the first time, at what is a critical time for Ukraine. NATO
00:19and the EU have been discussing Russia's aggression, of course, but also what the incoming Trump
00:26administration will mean for the war in Ukraine. Penny Wong has told Mr Rutter that Australia
00:33stands ready to support its NATO allies.
00:36I'm here because it is a critical time for countries and institutions who care about
00:42international law, work together to protect the rules that protect us all. And that's
00:49why I'm here, because international law, the rules that countries work by, protect all
00:55of us. And we need to work with countries and institutions, such as the European Union
01:00and NATO, which are focused on the peace and stability that those rules enable.
01:08Earlier the Foreign Minister was in Strasbourg in France to meet with the European Parliament's
01:13new Vice President, Kayak Halas. The pair also discussed Ukraine and Australia's support
01:19for the EU, and how the challenges in this part of the world are interconnected with
01:24the challenges in the Indo-Pacific. While Minister Wong has been here in Europe, news
01:29of the Vanuatu earthquake broke, of course. We've been given some more details from the
01:34Foreign Minister about Australia's assistance for Vanuatu. She says the first flight of
01:39medical support and search and rescue personnel will depart Australia today. She's had a call
01:45with her counterpart in Vanuatu and pledged to do whatever Australia can to help.