Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, who lost the party leadership contest to David Shoebridge earlier this month, said she supported providing military aid to Ukraine if necessary to protect its sovereignty.
"If that's the support that people need in order to defend themselves from the invasion of Russia, I think Australians need to support that," she told the ABC's 7.30 program. "We always come from a position of wanting to de-escalate military violence ... we want to see humanitarian support, we want to see diplomatic support, but of course you can't allow people to be left fending for themselves."
Hanson-Young said she had raised the issue directly with Shoebridge. The new leader had shocked Ukrainian-Australian community representatives in an earlier interview with this masthead by explicitly opposing military assistance to Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong accused Shoebridge of "lining up with One Nation and President Putin" by opposing military aid in a fiery exchange in the Senate on Tuesday.
While Shoebridge insisted the party's position has been "clear from day one", parliamentary records show the Greens voted for a 2022 Senate motion supporting military aid to Ukraine after Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion. Shoebridge has noted that party positions can be amended at the will of its members, leaving open the possibility of change.