By Paul Osborne and Maeve Bannister in Canberra

AUSTRALIA will support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” with the federal government unveiling an additional $110 million in assistance.

The package will include 70 military vehicles, featuring 28 M113 personnel carriers, ammunition and $10m for a humanitarian fund which will support shelter, health services, clean water and sanitation.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was a significant and necessary commitment.

“This assistance will help Ukraine defend and support itself against Russia’s illegal, immoral and unprovoked invasion,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

“(It will) make a tangible difference on the battlefield.”

The package did not include Hawkei vehicles, a protected military four-wheel-drive, because advice said these would not be the best way to provide assistance.

But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the announcement was not enough and slammed the decision not to include Hawkeis, which had been requested by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

“President Zelenskiy, along with his military advisors, know exactly what is required on the ground to have a fighting chance of defeating (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and his forces,” Mr Dutton told reporters in Perth.

“President Zelenskiy is now asking for Hawkeis and for other equipment and the government hasn’t provided it.

“Frankly, they should get on with it and provide that support because if they don’t, lives will be lost.”

Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said Australia expected the conflict to continue long-term but support would not wane.

“We will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on their terms,” he said.

“Those fighters who are there right now are fighting for Ukraine but they are fighting for all of us and we will stand with them.”

Australia is one of the largest non-NATO and Indo-Pacific contributors to Ukraine, providing $790m in total, including $610m in military assistance, since Russia’s invaded in February 2022.

The latest assistance also extends duty-free access for goods imported from Ukraine for another 12 months.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia recognised the humanitarian impacts of the war.

“The UN Charter and the principle that a large country can’t simply change the borders of another country matters to us all,” she said.

The prime minister said the package was not a response to the attempted mutiny in Russia but had been in the works for some time before cabinet approval.

Mr Albanese will attend a NATO summit in July where Ukraine will be the key issue.