Ex-PM: Trump in ‘fantasy land’ on Ukraine

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Spoken from London, Mr Abbott said despite Mr Trump's attempts to initiate peace talks involving the US and Russia, without Ukraine, peace could not be a “surrender to vicious, bare-faced aggression”.

“Let’s be bloody clear, Putin started this war. Russia started this war, and anyone who thinks otherwise is living in cloud cuckoo land,” he told Times Radio.

“Now, obviously we want peace, but we can't just accept a submission to brutal and unprovoked hostility.”

“Ukraine needs to be able to live in independence and feel secure for the future.”

He said proposals to swap "land for security" would also need to come with "substantial" guarantees of Ukraine's ongoing security, like membership to NATO or a "troops on the ground" presence from allied countries.

“Otherwise, effectively, this isn’t a truce. It’s a sellout … and it’s a submission to a ruthless tyrant,” Mr Abbott said.

While he welcomed Mr Trump's sensible domestic policies, Mr Abbott said the US couldn't afford to "appease dictators" like Mr Putin.

“I reckon we're in a pretty precarious situation, and I hope he'll reconsider, and I reckon the smartest blokes in Washington will be getting together to figure this out,” he said.

Mr Abbott, who served as the Australian prime minister from 2013 to 2015, also praised UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for supporting Mr Zelensky after Mr Trump's comments and said Western countries would be looking to Mr Starmer to "inject some strength and decency into this situation".

Asked if Mr Starmer should be more "robust" against Russia, Mr Abbott declined to directly answer but said he "simply hoped" the Prime Minister "stands up in the best traditions of Australian global leadership", listing Australia's fight against the Nazis and Hitler in WWII.

Australian Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has also had a go at Mr Trump's comments, which is a rare move for the Australian politician.

The Leader of the Opposition said he was proud of Australia's backing for Ukraine, stating that Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was "unprovoked" and an "act of aggression".

Although Mr Dutton said the US was an "incredibly important ally of ours," he said Australia should "stand strong and stand proud with the people of Ukraine".

“Fair dinkum, the idea that President Zelensky or the Ukrainian people started this conflict, or that they're to blame for the war, is just a crock of rubbish,” he said on 2GB on Thursday.

“It’s a democracy, and this is a battle for our way of life. Vladimir Putin is a ruthless dictator, and we shouldn’t be giving him a single concession.”

Mr Dutton also warned against taking Mr Trump's future comments on the war with a grain of salt after the US leader started peace talks with senior Russian and US officials in Riyadh, the Saudi capital.

"I reckon President Trump's got it wrong with some of the public comments he's made about President Zelensky and the situation in Ukraine," he said.

I reckon a lot of careful consideration needs to be given to what we do next, because if we make Europe any less secure, or we provide any sort of backing to Putin either intentionally or unintentionally, that'd have a terrible, terrible outcome.

On Wednesday night, Mr Trump accused Mr Zelensky of having "talked the United States into shelling out $350 billion to get involved in a war that can't be won", amid a growing rift between the two nations.

In an outspoken statement posted on Truth Social, Mr Trump called the leader a "fair dinkum comedian" and said his actions have "destroyed" his country and let millions of people "die unnecessarily".

Mr Trump also called Mr Zelensky, who was democratically elected in 2019, a "dictator without elections".

Although the Ukrainian leader's five-year term was set to expire in 2024, the country's been under martial law since the invasion, making it impossible to hold future elections.

Earlier this week, Mr Zelensky copped a spray at the attempted peace talks between the US and Russia that didn't have Ukraine at the table, and called out Trump for living in a "disinformation space".

While Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles sidestepped commenting on Mr Trump's comments, he stated "the war in Ukraine must be resolved on Ukraine's terms".

“Ukraine has experienced a staggering loss of life. It's crucial to understand that we're not discussing peace at any cost, and to be explicit, the US is not considering peace on any terms,” he said.

We've been saying from the start, and we're saying it again, that the conflict in Ukraine needs to be resolved in a way that's acceptable to Ukraine, because Russia is the aggressor here, and what's at risk is the integrity of the global rules-based system.

That's why we've provided around $1.5 billion worth of support to Ukraine. Our stance remains unchanged.

Anthony Albanese backed up Mr Marles' comments, saying: “I speak up for Australia's interests and Australia is standing with Ukraine in their fight, which isn't just about defending their own national independence but also about standing up for the international rules that apply to everyone.”

The Australian government has provided Kyiv with over $1.5 billion worth of assistance to combat Russia's invading forces, including military equipment and armoured vehicles.

The conflict has left eastern Ukraine in ruins and subjected cities across the country to daily bombardments from missiles and drones.

Out of the 6.8 million Ukrainians who've fled their homeland, approximately 11,400 have found a safe haven in Australia.