Russia envoy accuses New Zealand of anti-Russian ‘cancel culture’
Monday, 8 June 2026
Russia’s new ambassador to New Zealand says describing Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine as illegal is “propaganda”, while accusing New Zealand of taking part in “cancel culture” against Russia.
Stanislav Krans is seeking to rebuild people-to-people links between the two countries, saying the relationship has reached a “historical low”.
But in an interview with The Post, Krans rejected New Zealand’s framing of the war in Ukraine, argued New Zealanders were under pressure from Western media narratives, defended Moscow’s travel bans on New Zealanders, and said Russia would only lift those bans if Wellington moved first by easing sanctions.
Russian culture and language had been unfairly sidelined, he said, and claimed New Zealand media coverage of Russia was overwhelmingly focused on Ukraine.
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“We would also like to talk about cancel culture, including, unfortunately, in New Zealand: the cancelling of Russian culture and Russian language,” Krans said.
The interview came after the Russian Embassy approached The Post, seeking publication of an opinion piece under his name, which The Post declined.
In that article, Krans argued New Zealanders were “not well informed about what Russia and the Russians really are” and said centuries of UK-Russia relations had forced New Zealand to follow “the British narrative, not her own”.
Asked whether he was accusing New Zealand of not having its own independent foreign policy, Krans said: “Because of history … your closer relations with Britain, the United States, Australia and other countries, and because of everyday propaganda, people start to believe it.”
Asked directly whether he considered the phrase “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illegal” to be propaganda, Krans replied: “Correct.”
He said terms such as “illegal”, “wide-scale” and “unprovoked” were “labels” placed on Russia’s actions.
“These are labels that you put on what we are doing. After that, you think there is no need to prove it or present evidence that it is the correct wording.”
Krans said Russia had “many materials, articles and explanations” from the past 10 to 12 years explaining the background to the war, but claimed the circumstances were being ignored.
New Zealand has repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and imposed sanctions under the Russia Sanctions Act 2022.
MFAT says New Zealand has imposed sanctions on Russia in response to its “illegal war of aggression against Ukraine”, with the sanctions regime covering individuals, entities, ships and trade measures.
Measures include travel bans, asset freezes, restrictions on services and securities, a 35% tariff on Russian-origin imports, and bans on imports of Russian-origin gold, oil, gas, coal and certain luxury goods.
Read the full Q&A with Krans.
The Government has continued adding sanctions packages. In February, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announced $8 million in further assistance for Ukraine and additional sanctions targeting what he called “Russia’s war machine”, saying Russia’s “illegal and unprovoked invasion” had devastated Ukraine, destabilised Europe and affected the security of New Zealand’s own region.
Krans said his main mission in New Zealand was to promote bilateral relations, particularly cultural, educational, tourism and business links. During the interview, he gave The Post a Russian Embassy bag with souvenirs, including a map of Moscow, a t-shirt and a Saint Petersburg magnet.
“If we are talking about the current situation in our relations, we have reached a historical low. But who suffers? Ordinary people.”
Businesses had lost opportunities, he said, and singled out New Zealand wine, meat, milk and education as areas where ties could be rebuilt.
Asked whether the purpose of his outreach was to shift New Zealand public opinion and pressure the Government to ease sanctions, Krans said that was “not exactly” his main point.
“We would like to bring our people and your people to a new understanding.”
Russia has banned more than 200 New Zealanders from entering the country, including government ministers, military commanders, regional mayors, media executives and journalists.
Krans said Russia was practising “mirror diplomacy”.
“You imposed sanctions. We do not impose that kind of sanction.'