Drone footage of Bakhmut showed how the longest battle of the year-long Russian invasion had turned the city in eastern Ukraine into a ghost town. Video / AP
Christopher Luxon’s first call as Prime Minister with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy didn’t include a request for further support from New Zealand but Luxon reiterated condemnation of Russia’s “war of aggression”.
Luxon posted on social media this morning, saying New Zealand’s support for Ukraine’s sovereignty remained “strong and constant”.
“I’ve just spoken with Ukraine President and reiterated New Zealand’s support in response to Russia’s war of aggression,” Luxon posted.
In a media stand-up later today, Luxon said Zelenskyy hadn’t requested any support during their phone call, which Luxon described as a “good conversation”.
“Obviously, we have been very supportive of the Ukraine since February, 2022,” Luxon said.
“I personally have been very supportive of New Zealand standing up for the values that we receive and I offered him further support if he needed it and we’ll continue to have those conversations.
“I wanted to reassure him that we stood with him and I wanted to get a sense from him as to how he thought the war was going, what kind of international support he was getting and we continued to say that through our officials, we continue to look at any other requests for further support, I’m very open for considering all of that.”
It followed a report indicating Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has pulled rank over his coalition partners by declaring Russian ambassador Georgii Zuev wouldn’t be expelled on his watch.
Peters told AAP such a “knee-jerk reaction” was not diplomacy.
“That’s not a good idea. It’s better to jaw, jaw, jaw than war, war, war and we need to talk to the Russians,” he told AAP.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Before the election, both National and Act had argued for the ambassador to be expelled. After entering Government, Luxon had said advice would be taken on the matter.
“There’ll be a different regime sometime in the future and the fact that we have got everything in situ after ... upgrading our facilities in Moscow is something that we should consider seriously,” Peters told the AAP.
“Rather than a rash reaction that says somehow we’re going to advantage our helping there to be a peaceful conclusion in Ukraine by booting the ambassador out.”
Adam Pearse is a political reporter in the NZ Herald Press Gallery team, based at Parliament. He has worked for NZME since 2018, covering sport and health for the Northern Advocate in Whangārei before moving to the Herald in Auckland, covering Covid-19 and crime.
