Wednesday 15 October 2014
Photo: Shirtfront debate: Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Russian president Vladimir Putin. (AAP/AFP)
Related Story: Lambie rebukes Abbott over 'shirtfront' comment
Related Story: Abbott vows to 'shirtfront' Vladimir Putin at G20
One of Russia's top ranking diplomats has poked fun at the Prime Minister's suggestion he will "shirtfront" Vladimir Putin when the Russian president visits Brisbane next month.
Tony Abbott refused to repeat the comment yesterday, but insisted he was expecting to have a "very robust" conversation with the president about the MH17 disaster during the G20 summit.
Russian second secretary to Australia Alexander Odoevskiy said there had been no request for a bilateral meeting between the leaders, and Moscow was not expecting a physical confrontation.
"From my personal perspective, I would say that this is obviously quite unusual for diplomatic practice to go this personal and, we may say, this physical," Mr Odoevskiy said.
"Basically it's of no use and I think it's no good to hear this statement, and it's not just one: we have seen a lot of them in a row during the past couple of months.
"From the Russian government perspective, currently the president of Russia is getting prepared for the Brisbane summit.
"This is an international event focused around the economic issues, and as we are aware at this point there has not been a request for a bilateral meeting, either from Moscow or from Canberra.
"So we are not sure where exactly and when the Australian Prime Minister would like to shirtfront president Putin."
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Abbott said if he met his Russian counterpart he would be very clear about Australia's anger at the lives lost in the MH17 disaster over Ukraine.
"I'm going to have a very robust conversation with President Putin should he be here for the G20 and I'm going make it very clear that the Australian people expect - that the world expects - full cooperation by Russia in the criminal investigation so that the people who committed this atrocity can be brought to justice."
Shirtfronting 'won't get a lot of ear abroad, especially in Russia'
When asked what his understanding of shirtfronting was, Mr Odoevskiy replied: "This is a hard one."
"Obviously, this term belongs to Aussie rules football, and [is] very familiar to many Australians, but not widely recognised abroad," he said.
"So for me personally I did some research this morning and figured out that this term is not used in the modern days in the current game. It's quite old-fashioned.
"Second thing I figured out is that it is illegal to shirtfront someone, so you get punishment for this, and my assessment is that this statement probably targets Australian internal politics and targets more the Australian audience.
"This won't get a lot of ear abroad and especially in Russia.
"Frankly speaking, we are not expecting any physical confrontation during the upcoming Brisbane summit.
"If there is bilateral contact, it most probably will be a battle of ideas, a battle of words, but nothing physical - that's our estimate."
Mr Odoevskiy also said it was admirable that both leaders were "very fit".
"I personally know that the Australian Prime Minister is a very keen cyclist ... [and] Russia's president does a lot of judo-wrestling."
But he said Mr Abbott's comments were not helpful.
"It's quite obvious that Russian/Australian relations are at historic low, and I always compare this to the period of 2007 when [at] that time prime minister Howard hosted president Putin for a bilateral visit during the APEC summit and it was a big success," he said.
"At that time, Australian-Russian relations were at historic highs."
Video: Vyacheslav Nikonov speaks with Lateline (Lateline)
Senior Russian politician Vyacheslav Nikonov told Lateline Mr Abbott's threat is predictable because the Australian leader is so closely aligned to the United States.
He said Mr Putin and others at the G20 summit will be focussed on economic matters.
"Putin will be coming to G20 summit - not to see Tony Abbott - and it is for G20 to decide who is coming and for what purpose," he said.
"Of course Putin will be there, he will be part of the discussion. Russia is the 5th biggest economy and G20 [will be} discussing economy more than anything else.
"For him I think he would not like this remark but he got used to the rhetoric of the Western politicians.
"He would never say anything like that about any Western politician, even if he doesn't like him, because he behaves."
Putin is 'doing his bit to stamp out terrorism'
Palmer United Party senator Jacqui Lambie has labelled Mr Abbott's shirtfront comment "immature" and called for the PM to "extend the olive branch".
Senator Lambie released a statement this morning in which she said Mr Putin was an "important and powerful world leader who must be listened to and spoken with".
"Yeah, I do like Vladimir Putin," she told the ABC's Radio National.
"I think he has very strong leadership. He has great values.
"He's certainly doing his bit to stamp out terrorism and I guess you've got to pay the man for that.
"And unlike most Australian political leaders, there's no BS about him."
