Canberra: Australia has declared that it would supply arms to Ukraine to retaliate against the Russian invasion. The weapons will be supplied through NATO allies, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced in Sydney this morning. Earlier, the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and several other countries had announced that they too would supply arms to Ukraine.

"I spoke with the defence minister. We will work alongside the NATO countries, including the US and UK, to provide all possible support to Ukraine, including arms" said Morrison.

He said visa applications from Ukraine would be considered on top priority. Australia has also banned the broadcast of ‘Russia Today’ TV.

Arms won’t be sent directly to Ukraine. Instead, NATO will be funded to stockpile the weapons. However, the government has not disclosed the volume of funding.

Australia’s stance is that they would not send their troops to Ukraine. The country has offered cyber security assistance as well to Ukraine to ward off Russian cyber-attacks.

Countries such as France and Germany have said that they would also supply Ukraine with weapons for self-defence. The German government has confirmed that it would send 1,000 anti-tank weapons and 500 surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine. The move is a paradigm shift in the country’s long-standing policy banning arms export to conflict areas.

Australia had imposed individual ban on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov the other day. The Prime Minister stated that more prominent Russians would be added to this list and that the government is considering expulsion of the Russian ambassador from Australia.