Defence Force to provide non-lethal military equipment, government to fund Nato purchases, Justin Giovannetti writes in The Bulletin.
In a significant shift, the Defence Force is now sending non-lethal aid to Ukraine.
For the first three weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine the New Zealand government’s approach to the conflict had been solely humanitarian. Along with limited sanctions and travel bans, the Beehive had written cheques worth $6 million to help the millions of refugees fleeing their homes. As Stuff reports, there’s been a big change in the last 24 hours. The Defence Force is now shipping body armour, helmets and camouflage vests from its stockpile to Ukraine’s military. Aotearoa is also sending $5 million to the Nato military alliance, to help it purchase war fighting gear, including fuel, communications equipment and medical supplies.
The decision follows a call on the weekend between Jacinda Ardern and Ukraine’s prime minister.
Ardern said that Denys Shmyhal, her Ukrainian counterpart, was “astounding” when the two spoke about the worsening situation in his country. While he hasn’t had as much international exposure as president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ardern said that Shmyhal thanked New Zealand for its help and was “absolutely focused” on the challenge he now faces. As RNZ reports, the Ukrainians did request weapons and Ardern did not rule out the request in the future.
The bigger challenge is that New Zealand doesn’t have many of the weapons Ukraine needs.
The chief of defence told reporters at parliament that he’d briefed the Ukrainian military on the weapons available in New Zealand’s inventory. The Ukrainians concluded that Aotearoa’s stock of modern missiles is so small that it wasn’t worth the bother of shipping them around the world. “We need a lot more than that,” air marshal Kevin Short recalled the Ukrainians responding. The backlog on orders of new anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles is now three years long, so purchasing them isn’t an option either.
Russian bombardment of Ukraine’s cities has intensified as its military struggles.
Thursday will mark a month since the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and while the Russian army is still slowly advancing, the costs have been enormous. Casualties on both sides have been in the thousands, while Ukraine’s largest cities have faced growing bombardment. Global economic sanctions have strangled Russia’s economy, but the country’s leaders have shown little interest in calling off the invasion. Reuters reports that a call for Ukraine to surrender the port city of Mariupol, or face an attack on its civilian population, has been rejected. Russia now warns of a coming human “catastrophe” from its planned attack. Much of this war revolves around Russian president Vladimir Putin. His actions have stumped many Kremlinologists. The Guardian spoke with five leading thinkers on Russia to better understand the president.