The Russian
president arrived in Brisbane late Friday for the weekend summit of world
powers at a time of heightened tension with host Australia, which has sent
three ships to its northern coast after a flotilla of Russian navy vessels
appeared there this week.
Prime Minister
Abbott said the appearance of the four Russian vessels, which include a heavily
armed cruiser and destroyer, were "part of a regrettable pattern" of
growing Russian military bullishness.
The French
presidency confirmed that Hollande and Putin would hold a bilateral meeting in Brisbane on Saturday
evening. It declined to comment further on the warships controversy in light of
Moscow 's latest
intervention.
On Thursday, French
Prime Minister Manuel Valls said that conditions "have not been met"
to deliver the ships to Russia .
"It is a large
state bullying a smaller state in Europe .
We've seen the consequences of that in the past and we should learn the lessons
of history and make sure we don't let it happen again," Cameron said.
- 'Unacceptable'
Russian actions -
The West's
relations with Moscow have grown increasingly
tense since the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet over territory controlled by
pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in July, killing 298
passengers and crew including 38 Australian citizens and residents.
Abbott told Putin
to "come clean and atone" for the shooting down of Flight MH17.
"Russian
action in Ukraine is
unacceptable," Cameron told reporters in Canberra
before heading to Brisbane .
"If Russia takes a positive approach towards Ukraine 's
freedom and responsibility, we could see those sanctions removed. If Russia
continues to make matters worse, we could see those sanctions increase. It's as
simple as that."
- New 'tsarism' -
The European Union,
the United States and Australia are among those that have imposed
sanctions on Russia for what
they see as Moscow 's desire to redraw modern Europe 's borders.
Pro-Russian rebels
have been fighting Ukrainian government forces since April in a war that has
claimed more than 4,000 lives and driven hundreds of thousands of people from
their homes.
The Australian navy
said Friday it had sent a third ship to help monitor the Russian fleet that has
appeared in international waters off its north coast, which also includes a
tugboat and a refuelling vessel.
Abbott said in a
joint press conference with Cameron that Russia was "being much more assertive
now than it has been for a very long time".
"Whether it's
the bullying of Ukraine ,
whether it's the increasing Russian military aircraft flying into the airspace
of Japan , European
countries, whether it's the naval task group which is now in the south Pacific , Russia
is being much more assertive now than it has been for a very long time,"
Abbott said.
But, with oil
prices at their lowest level in four years and the ruble tanking against the
dollar, he stressed: "Interestingly, Russia 's
economy is declining even as Russia 's
assertiveness is increasing.
"Russia would be so much more attractive if it
was aspiring to be a superpower for peace and freedom and prosperity... instead
of trying to recreate the lost glories of tsarism or the old Soviet
Union ."
Abbott's latest
remarks come after a highly anticipated exchange between him and Putin at a
trade summit in Beijing
earlier this week.
Abbott had famously
vowed to "shirtfront" Putin -- an Australian football term in which a
player charges an opponent -- in Brisbane over
the downing of MH17, but the Beijing
encounter passed off without incident.
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