The Defence Minister has labelled Vladimir Putin a "paranoid and utterly ruthless" dictator and says the Russian President may be "destroyed" by the war in Ukraine.  

Peter Dutton has also ratcheted up his warnings about the strategic convergence between Russia and China, labelling their recent pact an "unholy alliance" and warning Beijing may see the crisis in Ukraine as "useful opportunity" to coerce other nations in the region. 

The remarks represent another escalation in language from Mr Dutton, who has been one of the federal government's fiercest critics of the Russian invasion. 

"[Putin] wants more than anything to restore a Russian imperial empire with himself in absolute control," Mr Dutton told a United States Studies Centre function in Canberra on Wednesday morning.  

"A successful democratic Europe-leaning Ukraine has no place in his utterly warped and cynical worldview, and so he's set out to destroy it.

Several analysts have made similar predictions, saying that Russia's heavy military losses in Ukraine — as well as the prospect of a deep recession triggered by US led sanctions — could threaten Mr Putin's grasp of power in coming months and years. 

Western politicians and leaders have typically avoided making direct references to regime change in Russia, or speculating about Mr Putin's future, in part because it could be used by the Kremlin to fuel propaganda campaigns designed to suggest the US is intent on toppling the current Russian government. 

But Mr Dutton said that it was important to be "clear" about the challenges posed by both Russia and China, citing US President Joe Biden, who called the "contest between autocracy and democracy" as the "defining challenge of our time."

He also warned that Australia could be a prime target for Russian cyber-attacks after being included on a list of unfriendly nations put out by the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

Dutton takes aim at China

Last week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the government was not aware of any Russian cyber attacks on Australian companies or government departments, but urged them to be watchful and upgrade their cyber security.

The Defence Minister also took aim at China for "supporting" Russia's invasion by refusing to condemn Moscow's actions and by easing trade restrictions to help ease the pain caused by US-led sanctions. 

Mr Dutton suggested that Beijing might take advantage of the Russian invasion to pursue its own territorial claims, although he did not spell out where or how.   

"There are actors within our own region who may see the war in Ukraine as a useful distraction and indeed an opportunity to pursue their own actions of aggression or coercion," the Minister said. 

"This threat of course chiefly emanates from Beijing which has its own openly stated territorial ambitions and which recently entered a no limits cooperative partnership with the Kremlin at a time when the rest of the world was pulling away." 

The Defence Minister also said China's response to the invasion raised "serious concerns about Chinese intentions in the Indo-Pacific".

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