Ardern joins censure over Russian attacks
Russia appears fast becoming viewed as a rogue state, as the world’s most powerful surveillance network convened four of its five members to consider how to respond to increasing acts of aggression.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern capped off a major day in London with the high security meeting, which followed a one-on-one with British Prime Minister Theresa May.
Russia appeared to dictate the tone of both meetings but speaking ahead of the one-onone discussion, May gave no indication her Government felt any unease at what was initially perceived as a soft stance from New Zealand on the poisoning of ex Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury with a nerve agent.
The international community has blamed Russia for the attack, but New Zealand appeared slow off the mark as Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters tried to salvage a free trade deal with the state. Efforts to revive the deal have since been put on ice.
‘‘We have very good relations with New Zealand and we’re very happy with the international response to what happened in Salisbury,’’ May said.
Ardern said her discussion with May was thorough, touching on security and the need for solidarity between New Zealand and the UK, and she remained confident the two countries were progressing toward a free trade deal once the UK left the European Union.
Later, Ardern and May joined Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, and Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at a meeting with four of the Five Eyes group at the National Cyber Security Centre at London. They are attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London this week.
Five Eyes also includes the United States, which was not in London, and together the group represents the world’s largest intelligence and surveillance network.
Each of the leaders gave a statement at the start of the meeting, focusing on defending the ‘‘rules-based order’’ that governed the international community.
May said recent global events – the Salisbury attack, the chemical attack on civilians in Syria, Russian hacking and Russian interference in the US presidential election – called for nations to stand together ‘‘in the face of those who would challenge the rules-based international order’’.
‘‘As you know last month, a military grade nerve agent was deployed on the streets of a British city – an act we can only conclude was carried out by the Russian state.
‘‘And I’d like to thank our friends and allies here today for their solidarity in responding to what was an unprovoked and unacceptable action.’’
She further singled out Russia: ‘‘Russia is using cyber as part of a wider effort to attack and undermine the international system. And it’s interference over the past year has included attacks on the public sector, media, telecommunications and energy sectors.
‘‘I’ve been clear to Russia we know what it’s doing and we should be in no doubt that such cyber warfare is one of the greatest challenges of our time.’’
Her sentiments were echoed by Turnbull, who said the world was ‘‘appalled by the nerve agent attack on Salisbury’’ and against the Syrian regime that carried out a chemical attack on its own civilians, of which Russia is an ally.
He said Australia supported the ‘‘calibrated, proportionate and, responsible’’ action of US-led missile strikes on Syria, carried out with the support of the UK and France, in response.
Trudeau said it was a necessary and targeted response, and acknowledged there had been a slide toward ‘‘more strongarm tactics and more authoritarian governments’’.
Ardern said New Zealand stood ‘‘absolutely opposed to the abhorrent use of chemical weapons’’.
‘‘Regardless of the area in which we’ve seen recent examples of the use, and regardless of scale, it is a violation of international law and we cannot allow their use to go unanswered.’’