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Tony Abbott has launched a stinging critique of Donald Trump over his misinformation-riddled comments about Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy and apparent intention to favour Russia in negotiations to end the three-year war.
Abbott, an outspoken supporter of Trump, said the US president was "living in fantasy land" for blaming the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Zelenskyy.
"Let's be very clear, (Russian President Vladimir) Putin started this war," Abbott told the UK's Times Radio overnight.
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"Russia started this war, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in fantasy land.
"Obviously we want peace, but it can't just be a surrender to vicious, naked aggression, it can't be.
"The basis for peace has got to be that Ukraine can live in independence and security going forward."
The former prime minister, who infamously threatened to "shirtfront" Putin over the deadly MH17 air disaster caused by Russian-backed forces, said if Ukraine isn't given NATO membership, it will require Western troops on the ground as part of a peace deal.
"Otherwise, effectively, this isn't a ceasefire, it's a sellout," he said.
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"This isn't peace, it's a surrender. And it's a surrender to a vicious dictator…
"This idea that you can somehow appease dictators, this idea that might is right, that is completely foreign to everything that America and the broader West has stood for these last 70 years."
Abbott's criticism came after an extraordinary string of comments from Trump in which he falsely claimed Zelenskyy is a dictator who wasn't democratically elected and enjoys barely any public support, and was responsible for the outbreak of the war with Russia – all essentially Kremlin talking points.
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Those, in turn, came after peace talks between the US and Russia in Saudi Arabia in which Ukraine was conspicuously absent, raising fears Moscow's demands will be catered to in a ceasefire deal.
Trump has also said Zelenskyy needs to "move fast or he is not going to have a country left".
Zelenskyy, for his part, has said Trump is living in a Kremlin-created "disinformation space" and that Ukraine must play a part in negotiations to end the war.
Asked about Trump's comments at a press conference today, current Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – whose government is trying to negotiate exemptions imposed by the notoriously transactional president – reiterated Australia's support for Kyiv without criticising the US president.
"Australia stands with Ukraine in their struggle, which is a struggle not just for their own national sovereignty but is a struggle to stand up for the international rule of law," he said.
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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, though, said Trump had "got it wrong" in his stance on Zelenskyy.
"The thought that President Zelenskyy or the Ukrainian people started this battle, or somehow they were responsible for the war, is just wrong," he told 2GB.
"Australia should stand strong and proud with the people of Ukraine," he added.
"It's a democracy, and this is a fight for civilisation. Vladimir Putin is a murderous dictator, and we shouldn't be giving him an inch."
