Julie Bishop makes rare diplomatic foray into Russia
By Rob Harris
London: Julie Bishop has made a rare trip to the Kremlin, meeting senior Russian officials during a visit that underscores Moscow’s growing influence in Myanmar and its central role in shielding the country’s military regime from global pressure.
The former Australian foreign minister, who is now the United Nations special envoy for Myanmar, held talks with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin. She posted photos to her Instagram last week from inside Russia’s Foreign Ministry and Red Square – a striking image for a Western diplomat given Russia’s isolation over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Former foreign minister Julie Bishop was in Russia last week to meet with senior officials of Putin’s regime.Credit: Instagram
Bishop, who rarely speaks publicly about her role, declined to comment when approached by this masthead, only confirming the visit as part of her role in engaging key United Nations Security Council members on Myanmar’s political and humanitarian crisis.
Russia is one of the junta’s most powerful allies, supplying arms, vetoing UN resolutions, and expanding oil and gas co-operation. The Kremlin recently announced new strategic agreements with Myanmar’s military, even as the regime continues its crackdown on political opponents, ethnic minorities, and pro-democracy forces.
In an address to the UN General Assembly earlier this month, Bishop warned that since the February 2021 coup, “Myanmar has been in polycrisis, with more than 14,000 civilian fatalities and 80,000 total fatalities recorded, more than 3.5 million internally displaced, and over 100,000 houses torched.”
She condemned the junta for continuing to “fly airstrikes as part of its campaign against anti-junta forces and Myanmar’s people, despite a ceasefire announcement”, and said the plight of the Rohingya Muslim minority had “only worsened” since the military seized power.
“Those who have been forcibly deported from Myanmar face an uncertain future, with life-saving support to refugees significantly reduced, while Rohingya inside Myanmar face continuing persecution, displacement, and denial of human rights amidst an intensifying conflict,” she said.
She also warned that elections planned by the junta for December were aimed at whitewashing military rule.
A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said the Myanmar people themselves “should play a key role in developing ways to resolve the situation”, and the international community “should provide them with assistance at their request”.
“The Russian side noted the importance of building the Special Envoy’s activities in a neutral and unbiased manner, without imposing neo-colonialist Western attitudes,” it said. “The imperative of establishing constructive interaction with the government of Myanmar was emphasised.”
With China and Russia continuing to shield the junta from co-ordinated global action, Bishop’s trip to Moscow highlighted a stark reality – efforts to resolve Myanmar’s crisis will run through capitals that have enabled it.
In 2014, as foreign minister, Bishop directly confronted Russian President Vladimir Putin over the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which killed 298 people, including 38 Australians. She later described the encounter as “menacing”.
“After I had given President Putin the Australian side of things, he looked at me and said, ‘So this is what you call a shirtfront?’” she told the ABC in 2022. “[It was] quite menacing.”
She said the two spoke privately about Ukraine and Russia’s denials of involvement in the downing of the aircraft.
“Of course, we both knew that was not the case, and Russia kept denying that it had any responsibility to assist in an investigation into the cause of the crash of MH17,” she said.
“He was very steely, very calm. He stared at me, his eyes didn’t leave my face. He didn’t blink. Not once. But he disagreed with the points I made calmly, politely, almost respectfully.”
Bishop’s role as the UN’s special envoy has drawn some criticism. Justice For Myanmar, a watchdog group that works to expose businesses with financial ties to the nation’s military, last month said her involvement with Energy Transition Minerals, an Australian-listed mining company with links to Chinese state-owned enterprises active in Myanmar, raised concerns about her ability to perform the role impartially. She has denied any conflict.
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