Russians expelled from other countries banned from New Zealand

New Zealand has banned Russian diplomats already expelled from other countries in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack. Photo / Bloomberg

The Government has imposed travel bans on Russian diplomats expelled from other countries in the wake of the Salisbury nerve agent attack.

"We will be asking our security partners to provide those names to us," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said in a joint statement with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters.

"Those names will then be placed on a travel ban list to ensure that individuals who have been found to undertake activities incompatible with their diplomatic status in other countries do not enter New Zealand."

Ardern and Peters said New Zealand had clearly registered its deep concern over the Salisbury attack and the inadequate response from Russia to justified questions.

New Zealand's views had been conveyed through media statements and in direct discussions with the Russian Government, both in Wellington and in Moscow.

"Like our partners, we are raising questions on legitimate matters of international concern," Peters said.

"As we said soon after the Salisbury attack, there are serious questions here that Russia needs to answer," he said.

So far 27 countries have moved to expel Russian diplomats, affecting at least 151 people, following the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

The new travel ban list is in addition to one imposed in 2014 when New Zealand slapped travel bans on individual Russians and Ukrainians involved in the Ukraine/Crimea crisis.

It also put free trade negotiations with Russia on hold in protest against that country's military moves in the region.

The crisis in Ukraine, in which Russia became militarily involved, resulted in the annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula by Russia.

The list of countries and how many people were expelled:

United States: 60

Britain: 23

Ukraine: 13

Nato: 7

Canada: 4

France: 4

Germany: 4

Poland: 4

Czech Republic: 3

Lithuania: 3

Moldova: 3

Albania: 2

Australia: 2

Denmark: 2

Italy: 2

The Netherlands: 2

Spain: 2

Belgium: 1

Croatia: 1

Estonia: 1

Hungary: 1

Ireland: 1

Finland: 1

Latvia: 1

Macedonia: 1

Norway: 1

Romania: 1

Sweden: 1