The Government will provide a further $5.3 million in support of Ukraine, and has extended a deployment of soldiers who are training Ukrainian troops for another year.
Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced the latest round of support for Ukraine while visiting the Salisbury Plain Army Training Area near London, where New Zealand soldiers are based, on Wednesday.
“For more than a year New Zealand has stood with the people of Ukraine as they have been subject to a brutal, unrelenting and illegal invasion by Russia,” Hipkins said, in a statement issued by his office.
“Today’s package shows our resolve has not waned and our ongoing support for Ukraine and the international response has not diminished.
“Unfortunately the conflict appears set to continue for some time. We, and like-minded partners, will not back off and allow Russia to impose their might on the innocent people of Ukraine.”
The latest support would include $2m for an Ukraine humanitarian fund, $1.5 million for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, $500,000 for New Zealand non-governmental organisations working on a regional refugee response, and $1.3m for the International Criminal Court prosecution office – which earlier this year charged Russian President Vladimir Putin with war crimes.
The deployment of 95 New Zealand soldiers to the United Kingdom to train Ukrainian troops would be extended to June 30, 2024. Two defence personnel would also be sent to Poland to train Ukrainian forces in using satellites and ground-based technology for “space operations”.
A further 18 Russian entities and nine people were being added to New Zealand’s sanctions list, including Russian intelligence service the Federal Security Service (FSB) and its senior leaders.
The Government says it has now provided $78m in support for Ukraine, a total figure which includes the cost of the deployment of New Zealand soldiers, not just direct funding.
Defence Minister Andrew Little said Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov expressed “gratitude” for New Zealand’s support, when the pair met in Germany last month.
“I indicated that we will continue to support them throughout this conflict.
“As the conflict goes on, we will continue to review the support we will provide Ukraine. So this is unlikely to be the last of these sorts of announcements.”
He said the Government had previously provided money for lethal aid to Ukraine, but wanted to direct the latest support towards refugee work and training troops as that was “where the need was greatest”.
The British could not accommodate any more soldiers at the training base in the United Kingdom, he said, limiting the training support New Zealand could provide.
ACT Party leader David Seymour, speaking before the announcement, said New Zealand should be making “far more substantial contributions” to Ukraine’s war effort.
“The Western democratic alliance New Zealand relies on for collective security is under serious threat, and New Zealand's been almost missing in action for the last 18 months.
“If you look at what the Australians have given as a percentage of GDP, it's several times larger than New Zealand. I think we could afford to be in that zone.”
