Ukranians in Australia oppose Putin's presence at G20

Sydney, Oct 13 (IANS/EFE) An organisation of Ukrainian community living in Australia protested Monday against the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit that will be held next month in Brisbane.

A spokesperson for the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, Stefan Romaniw said that allowing Putin to participate in the G20 was a huge insult to the families who lost their loved ones in the Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down July 17.

Flight MH17, with 298 people on board, including 38 Australians, was shot down by a missile allegedly fired by pro-Russian rebels in the conflict-hit region of eastern Ukraine.

After the accident, Australia banned and imposed financial penalties on some 50 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and banned them from entering the country.

Romaniw said that Australia should be praised for its firm stance following the incident, according to Australian Associated Press.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed that during the G20 summit he would hold a bilateral meeting with Putin where he would express his concerns about the deaths of the Australians.

"I'm going to be saying to Mr. Putin, Australians were murdered. They were murdered by Russian-backed rebels, using Russian-supplied equipment," said Abbott, according to the ABC television channel.

The Ukrainian organisations in Australia plan to hold several protests against Putin during the summit.

Abbott said Sunday that his government could not prevent Putin's participation in the G20, although he said he would demand his cooperation in the investigations to bring those responsible to justice.

"There will be many tough talks with Russia and I suspect that the meeting with Putin will be the most difficult of all... We demand (Russia) cooperate fully with the criminal investigation," Abbott said.

The G20 members include the European Union, the G7 (the US, Canada, Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy and France), Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, South Korea, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, South Africa and Turkey.

--IANS/EFE

ab/vt