The ruling, which comes on the eve of the midterm elections, essentially ends the Trump administration's bid to disqualify the ballots in the state.

The incident comes amid growing calls for the temperature of political debate in Australia to be turned down.

Western officials stress that any force sent to Ukraine would not take part in any offensive operations.

The case, part of the "Farmgate" scandal, has left President Cyril Ramaphosa mired in an impeachment saga.