SYDNEY, March 10. /TASS/. Canberra will consider any request for assistance from Kiev and its allies, including the option of sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, Richard Marles, Australia’s deputy prime minister and defense minister, said.

"We're serious about supporting Ukraine and we have been since the moment that we came to government (in May 2022 - TASS). <...> And we've taken every request that has come and looked at how we can best support," he told ABC News.

"If there is ultimately a request in terms of providing peacekeepers, we'll give due consideration to it. But we'd make the point that at the moment there isn't a peace to keep," Marles pointed out, adding: "We do have Australian personnel who are in the UK right now providing training to new recruits to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and indeed they've been doing that since the end of 2022."

Marles also said that on March 11, Australia's military representative to NATO Di Turton would take part in a Paris meeting of the countries considering the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine as peacekeepers.

Australia has been sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine since March 2022. The country has provided over $1 bln in military assistance to Kiev, spending more than $880 mln on weapons and ammunition.