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June 15 () –
Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov has lamented that Australia is “diligently” getting carried away by “Russophobic hysteria” after its latest decision to terminate the lease it had with Russia for the construction of its second embassy in Canberra.
“Unfortunately, Australia continues to move diligently in the wake of the perpetrators of the Russophobic hysteria taking place in Western countries,” said Peskov, who lamented that the Oceanian country has emerged as an “excellent student” of these practices. “unfriendly”
“We will take it into account, and if there is any problem that requires the principle of reciprocity, we will act accordingly,” Peskov asserted at a press conference, as reported by the Interfax news agency.
The Australian Parliament has approved this week, at the request of the Government of the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, a law to invalidate a lease agreement for some land that had been reached with Moscow for the construction of a second embassy, this time in the Australian capital.
Albanese has argued that there were “security risks” in the event that the building, which was to be located near Parliament, was finally raised. “The decision is made in the interest of Australia’s national security,” the prime minister settled on Australian television.
The Russian Embassy in Australia is in the town of Griffith, in New South Wales. In 2008 Moscow began work to build a new diplomatic headquarters in the capital until 2011 when it obtained the permits. In August 2022, in retaliation for the invasion of Ukraine, Canberra terminated the agreement, but the Australian courts reversed this decision and sided with the Russian side.
