Inside New Zealand's month of trade talks with Russia
The last two New Zealand Governments have tried to get a trade agreement with Russia over the line, with the most recent attempt made at the beginning of Labour’s term in office.
Documents released to the Herald under the Official Information Act show that in February 2018, after the coalition Government was formed, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials drew up a strategy to get Russia back to the negotiating table, and even laid the groundwork for high-level engagement between Russian and New Zealand politicians.
However, the strategy was pulled after a month in protest against Russia’s alleged involvement in the Salisbury attacks.
New Zealand had spent four years negotiating a trade agreement with
Russia and its customs union partners Belarus and Kazakhstan, but those trade talks were suspended in 2014 over the conflict in Ukraine, resulting in the annexation of the
Crimean Peninsula by Russia.
At the beginning of 2017, Russia signalled it was keen to resume talks, but then-trade Minister Todd Mcclay said it was too soon.
In 2016 then-prime Minister John Key told Russian president Vladimir
Putin New Zealand could resume talks, but only on a timetable allowed by European nations’ attitude to the Ukraine conflict.
NZ First wanted that to be accelerated and negotiated for Labour to include a requirement to work towards the agreement in the 2017 coalition agreement.
By February 2018, officials were at work. They proposed a “plan of engagement” that would “keep New Zealand broadly in step with the actions of our key international partners”.
Then-minister of Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters and then-trade Minister David Parker were asked for their sign off on “the need to move deliberately in exploring further economic engagement with Russia”, and were asked to approve a “series of meetings with Russian officials”.
The papers, which were heavily redacted, suggested ministers would travel to Russia for events associated with trade talks.
However, those talks came unstuck in a matter of weeks.
On March 4, a former Russian military officer and double agent and his daughter were poisoned in the British city of Salisbury.
The British Government blamed Russia and began expelling Russian diplomats.
Later in March, Peters told media New Zealand would no longer be trying to restart trade talks.
Peters told the Herald talks with Russia were not pulled, but formal trade negotiations with Russia never restarted while he was in Government.