Russia leapfrogs Australia amid Ukraine war

“Russia also continues to score highly for its resilience, which is a reflection of its relative security in terms of resources, geoeconomics and geopolitics compared to many countries in Asia and [that is] “It’s a partial explanation for why Russia can withstand large-scale international sanctions.”

Meanwhile, Australia has fallen from fifth to sixth place despite the Albanian government’s success in signing security agreements with Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu and Nauru.

The report stated that Australia will need to work harder, including increasing defense spending, to maintain its influence in an increasingly competitive geopolitical environment.

“Australia’s slower pace of modernizing and expanding its armed forces compared to other countries in Asia contributed to its lower military capability score, with almost all indicators for this measure having static or negative scores,” the authors said.

Patton said: “Australia is making more ambitious security commitments to the region, but almost all defense experts agree that our own military spending is not aligned with the country’s needs.”

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China has benefited from the Trump administration’s punitive tariffs and disinterest in Asian diplomacy. It recorded the highest-ever diplomatic influence score of any country.

“The Trump administration’s approach to Asia is very chaotic. There is no strategy,” Patton said.

Browder, who was dubbed “Russia’s most wanted man” after being deported from the country in 2005, said ending Putin’s access to oil revenues was “the key to ending the entire war.”

“If we want to stop the war, the easiest way is to stop the Russian oil trade,” said the former hedge fund manager, who advocates using Magnitsky-style sanctions to target individual human rights offenders.

Fortescue Mining founder Andrew Forrest this week called on the Albanian government to take decisive action to stop Russian oil from entering Australia. reporter And AgeBlood Oil series: “No family who fills up their car with gas should have to wonder whether their money is helping finance Putin’s attack on Ukraine.

“This should ring alarm bells across Australia.”

The Morrison government introduced Magnitsky sanctions in 2021, named after Browder’s lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who accused Kremlin officials of widespread corruption and died in a Russian prison after being held without trial.

Australia banned direct oil imports from Russia after the war broke out in Ukraine, but Russian oil began to flow to Australia after being refined in intermediary countries such as India.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the government was liaising with the EU and the UK to determine whether it could ensure Russian oil did not enter the Australian market.

Browder said Australia and other countries should ban oil imports from refineries that process Russian crude.

“It’s not complicated at all. It’s very simple,” Browder said. “We go to refineries in India, China and Türkiye and offer them a choice: You can continue to buy Russian crude, or you can do business with us.”

Commenting on the ongoing peace talks in Geneva ahead of Trump’s deadline set on Thursday, Browder said: “Putin has no intention of stopping the war. He wants to derail oil sanctions and throw them into the open.”