Mr Morrison on Tuesday warned the move could result in an “absolutely violent confrontation with terrible human consequences”.
He said Ukraine had seen “Russian troops enter their own sovereign territory – that has already occurred now”.
“Some suggestion that they’re peacekeeping is nonsense. They have moved in on Ukrainian sovereign territory. And I hope for the best in terms of the diplomatic efforts that are being pursued,” he told reporters in Tasmania.
“We cannot have threats of violence being used to seek to advantage nations’ positions over others – that is not a peaceful world order. I can assure that the moment that other countries put in place strong and severe sanctions on Russia,we will be in lock step with them.”
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Asked aboutformer prime minister Tony Abbott’s warning that Russia would look to take Poland and the Baltic states after invading Ukraine,Mr Morrison said he was “aware of Tony’s comments”.