Lethal aid on the table as new Government gets ready to break Ukraine funding drought
The new Government is considering a new round of assistance to Ukraine, and has asked officials to present it with advice on possible options.
The assistance would be the first round of aid since last May, breaking a long drought in support for Ukraine’s self-defence. The Herald understands that the new Government is also looking at sending so-called “lethal aid” to Ukraine, something the former Government was not so keen on.
Most of New Zealand’s assistance to Ukraine has been in the form of humanitarian aid. The former Government was less keen on sending lethal aid, which consists of military equipment like weapons and ammunition, although in 2022 it sent $7.5 million to help the United Kingdom buy weapons for Ukraine.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said that “Ukraine’s needs remain critical and New Zealand is committed to providing ongoing support.
“The coalition government has directed officials to provide advice on options for further assistance that New Zealand could extend to Ukraine. We would expect that advice to include options for humanitarian assistance as well as for support for Ukraine’s defence capability,” Peters said.
Lethal aid will be among the options considered.
A Herald analysis of New Zealand’s assistance to Ukraine to date, shows that most assistance was sent at the beginning of the conflict in early 2022, with just two subsequent funding rounds. Slightly over $30m has been committed in total. There are renewed calls to up aid to Ukraine, as American assistance to the country struggles to make it through Congress.
The former Government also contributed to the war effort with multiple rounds of sanctions on people connected with the conflict. The Government also sent members of the Defence Force to the United Kingdom and Poland to train Ukrainian soldiers.
These deployments are scheduled to end in 2024, but could be extended.
A decision to send more lethal aid could be controversial Green co-leader Marama Davidson said it could mark a departure from New Zealand’s longstanding independent foreign policy.
“The idea that New Zealand is considering sending weapons to Ukraine so soon after caving to US pressure to send defence personnel to the Red Sea is yet another worrying departure from New Zealand’s careful, measured, peacebuilding approach to foreign affairs and defence,” Davidson said.
“New Zealand has a proud history of independent foreign policy. Our resources should be focused entirely on diplomatic efforts to bring about peace and humanitarian support for the ordinary people whose lives have been upended by Russian aggression,” she said.
Thomas Coughlan is Deputy Political Editor and covers politics from Parliament. He has worked for the Herald since 2021 and has worked in the press gallery since 2018.