Australia’s Ukrainian ambassador has one sentence he would like Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to declare as the fourth anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine approaches.
“Dictators cannot win, and dictators must fail,” Vasyl Myroshnychenko said in a National Press Club speech on Wednesday.
Mr Myroshnychenko used his address to highlight "false narratives" peddled by Russian President Vladimir Putin, including that he had "near-total victory" over Ukraine.
In reality, he said, Russia had only gained 12 per cent more of Ukraine's territory than it held before the invasion began in 2022, which he labelled more than a failure.
"President Putin announced a 10-day special military operation intent on capturing Kyiv," Mr Myroshnychenko said.
"But 1448 days later ... Putin's 10-day special military operation is looking more like a strategic failure. It is more than a strategic failure.
"During 2025, Russia succeeded in occupying an additional area of Ukraine that is equivalent to twice the size of the ACT at the cost of hundreds of thousands of its own casualties."
The ambassador said the EU and other middle powers such as Australia needed to publicly make it clear that "Putin is not really winning" to combat his narrative.
As Ukraine prepares to mark the fourth year of the invasion on February 24, Mr Myroshnychenko said people who wanted Kyiv to swap land for peace lacked compassion.
"Ukraine is standing up so the children in Ukraine, in Australia and elsewhere, don't grow up in a world where force replaces rules," he said.
"And that is why Ukraine fights so hard."
The Albanese government announced $95 million in extra support for Ukraine and further sanctions on Russia's shadow fleet in December, but had stopped short of banning imports of refined fuel from countries still buying Russian oil.
This support brought the total aid Australia has provided to Ukraine since 2022 to $1.7 billion.
No one expected middle powers to defeat Russia alone, the ambassador said, but he asked whether they were doing everything they possibly could to assist Kyiv, including through sanctions on Russian oil.
"We need global middle powers, including - and even led by - Australia, to exert their combined influence and impact to generate the diplomatic and reconstruction momentum to ensure a just, sovereign outcome," Mr Myroshnychenko said.
He said negotiations were continuing between Australia and Ukraine on a non-binding security pact between the two nations, but could not say when or whether it would be signed.
He said similar deals had been signed with almost 30 countries, and Ukraine "would be very interested" in signing one with Australia.
"This agreement, if it is approved and signed, will open up doors to co-operation which we haven't had before, and I believe that that co-operation would be of huge benefit for Australia," the ambassador said.
