In the blue corner
Over the last fortnight we have seen images and videos of everyday Ukrainian citizens, business people, retail workers, sportspeople and many more having to stand guard to protect their homeland.
It cannot be put into words what it must be like for those people, and I send my deepest sympathies to those in Ukraine. What Russia is doing is outrageous.
The first casualty of war is the truth, and Putin proved this by calling the invasion a ‘peacekeeping’ mission, but it is obviously anything but, and New Zealand needs to be seen standing up for the Ukrainians in the best way we can.
Unfortunately our Government has been slow to act and in the first two weeks of the invasion the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign Affairs were tardy and feeble in condemning Russia.
National has consistently called for an autonomous sanctions legislation, and if Labour hadn’t voted down the Hon.
Gerry Brownlee’s Autonomous Sanctions Bill last year we could have acted much sooner than we have.
The United Nations Security Council framework is limited in a scenario like this, because Russia can easily veto any decision.
New Zealand needs to be able to bypass the Security Council on issues like this, and having a three-week delay on introducing sanctions because the Government cannot sort their act out is frankly embarrassing on the international stage.
Thankfully after being pushed, the Government introduced the Russia Sanctions Bill last week, with unanimous support across the house.
The bill allows New Zealand to apply economic and diplomatic sanctions against Russia, alongside other larger economies, as a means of de-escalation. Almost all of us would rather see Russia stand down because they cannot fund a war, rather than use violence which would end the lives of countless people on both sides of the conflict.
Our partners have clearly indicated that, at this stage, they will not be taking any military action against Russia.It has been well over two weeks since the start of Russia’s inhumane and unjustified invasion of Ukraine, and at this point in time Russia is showing no sign of slowing down.
We are half a world away from Ukraine, but that shouldn’t stop New Zealand upholding the rights of state sovereignty and international laws and norms. Since passing the Russia Sanctions Bill we can now stand in unison with our traditional western allies and take a concerted effort in ending this terrible and wrongful conflict.