Ardern: Russia must be held to account over war

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has given a speech defending New Zealand’s ‘‘independent foreign policy’’ and multilateral institutions, while insisting the Ukrainian conflict with Russia is not ‘‘the West v Russia or democracy v autocracy’’.

In the lengthy speech which canvassed New Zealand’s approach to the Pacific, Ardern sought to build a case for both the use and reform of multilateral institutions New Zealand is involved in – including the United Nations and trade treaties.

But the most significant aspect of the speech was that while Ardern denounced Russia’s war in Ukraine, she argued it should not be seen as a broader conflict.

‘‘The war in Ukraine is unquestionably illegal and unjustifiable. Russia must be held to account and we all have a role to play in ensuring that that happens,’’ said.

However, Ardern said that despite Western support for Ukraine in the conflict, and New Zealand being a third party in Ukraine’s case against Russia in the International Court of Justice, the war was about Russia.

‘‘In taking every possible action to respond to Russia’s aggression and to hold it to account, we must remember that fundamentally this is Russia’s war.

‘‘And while there are those who have shown overt and direct support, such as Belarus, who must also see consequences for their role, let us not otherwise characterise this as a war of the West v Russia. Or democracy v autocracy. It is not.’’

Ardern used the speech to argue instead that diplomacy and de-escalation needed to be prioritised in order to prevent the ‘‘risk of a self-fulfilling prophecy to become an inevitable outcome for our region’’.

Ardern’s comments are likely to be controversial as there is a definite view in some foreign policy circles in both Canberra and Washington that the war in Ukraine is one front in a broader geopolitical conflict, and China will be closely watching how the liberal democratic world responds to the Putin regime.

Ardern also used the speech to make the case for greater economic engagement in the Pacific as a tool for prosperity in the region.

That comes after considerable discussions with the US in the lead-up to her meeting with US President Joe Biden last month about getting the US more economically involved in the region.

She also highlighted areas of disagreements with China such as the South China Sea and the treatment of Uyghurs. But she said disagreements did not mean cooperation was impossible.