Australia has rejected as “propaganda” Moscow’s assertions that it had “no cards” to play in a regional military cooperation between Russia and Indonesia.

In a pointed letter published by The Jakarta Post, Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Sergei Tolchenov, dismissed Australia’s concerns over reports that Moscow had requested access to a military airbase in Indonesia’s Papua province.

Canberra's “national interests cannot extend to the territory of neighbouring sovereign states that pursue active and independent policies”, Mr Tolchenov wrote, before concluding with a barbed reference to former US president Donald Trump’s remarks to Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky: “You have no cards.”

Mr Tolchenov accused Australian leaders of exploiting the issue for political gain during the country’s federal election campaign, claiming both major parties were “heating up the situation” and “playing the so-called ‘Russian card’”.