New Zealand’s support for Ukraine has been expanded as prime minister Chris Hipkins meets with defence force troops on the ground in the UK.
The new support package includes a one-year extension, through until the end of June next year, to the deployment of 95 New Zealand Defence Force personnel training and supporting Ukrainian soldiers.
There will also be an additional two NZDF staff deployed to Poland to help with ongoing training. No NZDF staff will enter Ukraine.
Meanwhile, $2 million will be provided to the Ukraine humanitarian fund along with $1.5 million to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, $500,000 towards NGOs helping with the regional refugee response and $1.3 million to aid the International Criminal Court.
Hipkins said the latest package showed New Zealand’s resolve to support Ukraine had not diminished.
“Unfortunately the conflict appears set to continue for some time. We and likeminded partners will not back off and allow Russia to impose their might on the innocent people of Ukraine,” Hipkins said.
The prime minister had a phone call with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier in the week, during which he gave a heads up of today’s new support. It was the first call the two had had since Hipkins became prime minister earlier this year.
Also this evening, foreign affairs minister Nanaia Mahuta announced a further tranche of sanctions, targeting 18 entities and nine individuals who backed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, would be put in place.
“These sanctions cover senior leaders of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia’s internal security and intelligence service, the FSB itself, as well as other Russian individuals and entities who develop and procure weapons, technology and communication systems, and provide services such as transport and insurance – all vital to Russia’s ability to wage war.”