Ukraine's top diplomat in Australia says the G20 summit, scheduled for Bali in November, should "uninvite" Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite .
Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukraine's ambassador to Australia, said there is nothing to be gained from sitting down with the Russian leader.
"I think it is very simple. I think the G20 countries have to make a decision to boycott Putin and uninvite him from that event. They should still go to Bali and have that meeting, but without Russia involved," he told SBS News.
"I can hardly imagine a prime minister, whoever that is going to be, sitting at the same table with Vladimir Putin."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has previously been vocal in his opposition of Mr Putin's attendance at the meeting.
“We need to have people in the room that aren’t invading other countries.”
Host nation Indonesia has remained steadfast in its invitation to the Russian leader and Mr Putin confirmed his attendance last month.
Indonesian authorities have argued it is worth world leaders sitting down with Mr Putin.
But Mr Myroshnychenko argued there is nothing to gain from such a meeting.
"Maybe two months ago, but not now," he told SBS News.
"It doesn't make any sense. That man has to go."
A fast-tracked trip as missiles fell on Kyiv
The new ambassador has only been in Australia for a matter of weeks. His family fled the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with air-raid sirens ringing in their ears.
"[My] kids got traumatised, we spent a lot of time in the basement, different places, because it was very scary as you can imagine," he said.
"We all left Kyiv when missiles started flying ... my wife asked me to take her out of the country so she can feel safe."
A Ukrainian service member at the site of fighting with Russian soldiers in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in the morning of 26 February 2022, according to Ukrainian service personnel at the scene. Source: Getty, AFP / Sergei Supinsky
He, his wife, their 18-year-old daughter and five-year-old son, had just two hours to pack and they could only bring what they could carry.
Mr Myroshnychenko returned to Kyiv for his diplomatic credentials before joining his family in Romania.
"In the middle of March I got appointed as ambassador to Australia and I just followed them, I followed the same route [to Romania] and five days later we boarded the plane and came here."
"[We had] only two suitcases for the family of four ... so I didn't have any suit, I just bring two pairs of jeans, some t-shirts, some sweatshirts and that's it."
"I bought one suit in Romania, I bought another suit here. I bought myself a new pair of RM Williams boots, because everyone is wearing them here."
Despite the new boots, home is never far from the ambassador's mind.
"People are dying. My Facebook, everyday I see four or five people, mutual friends, who are killed in combat, sometimes as civilians. This is unbearable."
"I hope it [the war] ends soon, but I don't see the end of it now. It has to end, all wars end. We just don't know when this one is going to end or how it is going to end."
The ambassador remains defiant, despite recent losses, including vast areas of the port city of Mariupol.
He told SBS News his people can win this territory back if they have weapons support from the West.
Mr Putin has labelled the invasion a "special military operation" to disarm Ukraine and rid the country of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.
Ambassador to approach premiers and business leaders
Mr Myroshnychenko was about to leave Canberra for Adelaide when he spoke to SBS News, and later this month he will travel to Perth, to seek funding from state premiers and local business leaders.
"We need more, we need more weapons, we need more protective vehicles, as you can imagine we are spending so much per day on ammunition, on everything," he said.
Of particular interest is Australia’s burgeoning green hydrogen industry.
The hope is Australia could transport gas to Europe, reducing the continent's reliance on Russian natural gas.
"As long as Russia can sell its gas to Europe it can continue this war. If Russia can only sell its gas, even without oil or coal, they can carry on with this war for the next two years," he said.
"I do see a contribution that Australia could make to the energy independence of the EU. This is huge, if it could be done, that would be of great help to Ukraine."
"We are talking about green hydrogen exports, so basically hydrogen that is created with renewable energy and is then supplied to Europe."
Perth billionaire Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest is involved in developing green hydrogen technology.
