SYDNEY, June 23. /TASS/. The Russian Embassy in Australia will dispute the bill on the unilateral termination of the lease agreement for the construction of а new Russian embassy building in the country’s Supreme Court, the diplomatic agency told TASS on Friday.

"We appealed to Australia’s Supreme Court with the request to recognize as invalid the law approved by that country’s parliament on terminating the 2008 lease agreement," the embassy said, noting, however, that "so far, it is hard to say how soon this claim will be reviewed."

The Australian Department of Home Affairs said that it was aware of the claim and was expecting it.

The Australian authorities attempted to terminate the lease agreement for the land plot on which the new Russian embassy building in Canberra would stand in August 2022. According to them, the lease was terminated because Russia had not completed work on the buliding within three years since the construction permit was issued in 2011 and unfinished construction works "detract from the overall aesthetic, importance and dignity of the area reserved for diplomatic missions and foreign representation in the National Capital." The Russian diplomatic mission appealed the decision and on May 31, 2023, the Federal Court of Australia reversed it but on June 15, the Australian government, citing recommendations regarding national security matters, passed the bill allowing Canberra to unilaterally terminate the lease.

The Russian Embassy in Australia stated that Canberra’s decision was "another step by [Australian Prime Minister] Anthony Albanese toward a deliberate and systematic destruction of relations with Moscow." Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Australia, having annulled the lease agreement, "is zealously continuing to hew to the mainstream line put forward by the authors of the Russophobic hysteria that now has Western countries in its grip. Australia is striving to be the star student in this area." He also noted that the Russian side would take this new hostile move into account and "act accordingly.".