Guest Post: May 2022 New Zealand’s response to the War in Ukraine

A guest post by William J Hall:

As the war in Ukraine continues on its southern and easter borders, Finland and Sweeden continue to draw closer to Nato with both countries having signed mutual defence pacts with the United Kingdom and Finland announcing its intention to join Nato. As a consequence Nato’s border will the Russian Federation will inevitably grow by some 1,340 km.

Is it time that New Zealand’s leaders do more to support the Ukrainian military defence of their nation and look to further condemn Vladimir Putin’s invasion? CCTV footage released by the BBC has shown Russian Federation soldiers shooting two unarmed Ukrainian civilians, with one dying from the initial shots fired and the other dying of his injuries. Russia has been accused of over 10,000 war crimes 10 weeks into the conflict. Approximately 6 million Ukrainians have fled across Europe with 12 million having been displaced from their homes. In comparison, the civil war in Syria which has been going on since 2011 has seen 3.8 million Syrian flee the country, mostly into Europe and Turkey.

For Europe, this is the worst humanitarian crisis since the Second World War, and just as we did then, New Zealand in March enabled Ukrainian born New Zealanders to sponsor entry visas for family members. Immigration New Zealand has received 835 sponsorship requests and 782 visa applications, for a total of 1,617 applications as of May. Unforchantly only 575 have been approved. In comparison, Ireland has taken 27,000 Ukrainian refugees in that same period. One Ukrainian here in New Zealand who is struggling to get her brother the proper paperwork to come to New Zealand has said that “[The] Government doesn’t even want to help these people with anything… there is absolutely no financial support.”

The New Zealand Government under Jacinda Ardern tells New Zealanders that they are a government of kindness, but yet when a sovereign democratic country is under an attack unlike anything Europe has seen in 77 years, New Zealand fails to do enough. By not sending lethal aid, beauricratic and slow processing of visas New Zealand fails to show the level of support expected by the New Zealand people. Amnesty International believes New Zealand isn’t doing enough either saying that “They [The New Zealand Goverment] need to be ensuring that they’re putting effort in… to make sure we’re doing everything we can to support the people who need it over there,”

New Zealand has deployed 50 defence personnel to Europe to support Nato’s and Ukraine’s response to the invasion. But yet refuses to send 24 Javelin missiles to the Ukrainian Defence Forces, due to disagreements in Cabinet. Defence Minister Peeni Henare has told New Zealand media that “could be the difference between life or death to Ukrainian people.” Although relatively small compared to the 7,000 Javelins that the United States has so far supplied to the Ukrainians, it’s not the only lethal aid the Defence Force has surplus to requirement.

In 2020 the Defence Force was reported as struggling to sell 30 light armoured vehicles (LAV3s), of which the New Zealand Army current has all 105 remainings. Australia is supporting Ukraine with A$91 million in military aid, sending 20 Bushmaster armoured vehicles to Poland for deployment with the Ukrainian Amered Forces. Then comes New Zealand’s L119 105mm howitzers light gun artillery, also surplus to requirement. All three of this surplus defence equipment are sitting here in New Zealand, while millions of Ukrainians are fleeing for their lives, yet New Zealand’s government continues to act like a possum in headlights, unable to act in this time of dire crisis.

Jacinda Ardern and ACT leader David Seymour have refused to call Vladimir Putin a war criminal. Yet as more evidence comes to light and the war in Ukraine looks unlikely to end anytime soon, what is the plan going forward? The video footage released by the BBC shows a small but tragic example of what is happening on the ground over the past 10 weeks. Similar reports have been made throughout every region of Ukraine where Russia has operated in. This month, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock visited the town of Bucha, where Russia has been accused of having unlawfully killed more than 300 men, women, and children. She vowed to ensure accountability for crimes committed by Russian troops in Ukraine, saying that these were “the worst crimes imaginable”. The evidence is in Ukraine and Europe have 6 million refugees to show just what an impact Putin’s war is having.

Then comes New Zealand’s ‘Neutrality’, something that has never really been true, we have worked to use our Defence Force in a capacity of peacekeeping rather than armed conflict. New Zealand has since 1984 and our declaration as a nuclear-free zone looked to have a more independent foreign policy from our larger allies; Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. However, Russia has changed everything, with Historically natural Sweeden having signed a mutual security deal with the UK and Finland a country that threw out the Cold War worked to balance its position between the Soviet Union and its Eastern Block and with Britain, America, France and Nato. Finland has announced a systemic change with their defence strategy, applying for Nato membership. This at a time that Russia has continued to signal retaliation’s towards their Nordic neighbours for any attempt to join Nato, we are yet to know what form the retaliation will take. But it shows that Neutral countries threw out the post-war period are acting decisively to adapt to the world as it is today. 

New Zealand needs to understand that the world has changed. Diplomatic measures have failed, and Putin has been backed into a corner, with none of the outcomes being very positive. New Zealand’s deployments to Europe are a positive sign of action so far in this conflict, our ever-increasing sanctions on members of the Russian elite. However, we are failing in so many other areas. We have equipment gathering dust here in New Zealand that is sorely needed by the Ukrainians. We have failed to get Ukrainians with family here in New Zealand out of a war zone when given the numbers. Only 1/3 have had their visas processed and so far no announcement on helping take any of the burdens of our European allies in dealing with 6 million refugees.

US intelligence suggests that Putin is preparing for a long war and with the Ruble at a two year high against the US dollar, it seems the sanction proofing that Russia has been preparing since the annexation of Crimea has paid off, for the moment. A long war won’t be good for New Zealand, high flower and oil prices will likely continue, extending the cost of living crisis. There is also the likelihood that a long war would also lead to Europe, the UK and the US being drawn into a more direct conflict, further pushing prices up and worsening inflation. In any event, it is in New Zealand’s best interest for the West to support the Ukrainian war effort in every way we can.

New Zealand is small and our economy, population, and global standing. However, Kiwis have always looked to stand up to tyrants. In both of the Great Wars, New Zealanders sacrificed a lot to support our European allies. To stand up to Vladimir Putin’s Russia is important to defend Ukraine and the global rules-based order. Europe, the UK and the US are making significant sacrifices to support Ukraine, but will New Zealand? Or will we continue our mediocrity and