The Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to go to the war-torn nation. AusPol 9News
Albanese said he was taking "appropriate advice" about a possible visit to the Ukraine capital Kyiv after he travels to Europe for the June 29-30 NATO summit.
The prime minister will attend the summit in Madrid in a show of support for the security alliance by nations in the Asia Pacific. A spokesman for the Ukrainian embassy in Canberra confirmed to 9News that last month President Volodymyr Zelenskyy invited Albanese to visit Kyiv in a letter congratulating him on the Labor federal election victory.
Many in Ukraine hoped that the leaders' visit could mark a turning point by opening the way to significant new arms supplies and it also comes as EU leaders prepare to make a decision next week on Ukraine's request to become a candidate for membership in the bloc.Repair work is starting at the Retroville shopping centre in Kyiv which was bombed in a Russian airstrike earlier in the war. Ukraine faces a massive rebuilding and recovery programme, authorities say.