Australia will sell locally made armoured vehicles to Germany under a $1 billion defence export deal.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will meet with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Monday, ahead of attending the NATO summit in Lithuania.
More than 100 Brisbane-made Boxer heavy weapon carriers will be sold to Germany, one of the largest defence export deals in Australia's history.
"This is good for our defence, this is good for our national sovereignty, but it's also good for our economy," he told reporters in Berlin.
Mr Albanese said the sale of the vehicles, made by German defence manufacturer Rheinmetall, would be worth more than $1 billion to the Australian economy.
The talks with the German leader are expected to centre on manufacturing and clean energy, as well as security in the Indo-Pacific region and the war in Ukraine.
The discussions follow the marking of 500 days since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the ongoing war among the key topics for discussion.
The federal government recently announced a package for Ukraine worth $110 million, which attracted criticism from the opposition that Australia's support is waning.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin, the prime minister reaffirmed Australia's support for the Ukrainian government and people.
"This is about the people of Ukraine, struggling to defend their democracy and their sovereignty," he said.
"We also support the extraordinary effort that NATO is showing, because this is a struggle that has implications for the whole world."
Mr Albanese's three-day visit to Europe will also include a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins.
As well, he'll meet with the leaders of Japan and South Korea, who have also been invited to attend the NATO summit.
The leaders of the so-called "Indo-Pacific four" are set to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine, along with the role of the region in Europe.
Ukraine's ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko thanked Mr Albanese for his leadership in supporting Ukraine, and said his nation was grateful for the military and humanitarian aid.
He could not confirm a locked in meeting between the prime minister and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, but hoped it would take place.
Mr Albanese met with Mr Zelenskiy last year in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, after travelling to Europe for the 2022 NATO summit in Madrid.
NATO leaders were due to discuss plans to open a liaison office in Tokyo as part of a push to strengthen ties in the Indo-Pacific.
But French President Emmanuel Macron rejected the proposal.
Former prime minister Paul Keating praised the decision and said NATO was straying from its intended purpose of a European-American alliance.
"The Europeans have been fighting each other for the better part of 300 years, including giving the rest of us two world wars in the last hundred," he said.
"Exporting that malicious poison to Asia would be akin to Asia welcoming the plague upon itself."
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson dismissed Mr Keating's comments as a "new low".
"It is in Australia's national interest that we have strong engagement with NATO, in particular that we stay in close touch with our NATO partners when it comes to the war in Ukraine," he told reporters.
© AAP 2023