Defence Minister Judith Collins (L) and Foreign Minister Winston Peters. Photo: RNZ/Calvin Samuel
The government is putting $15 million towards a United States and NATO initiative to supply weapons and equipment to Ukraine, the Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).
Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Defence Minister Judith Collins revealed the decision in the early hours New Zealand time, calling the funding a significant contribution to support Ukraine's defence.
"The defence of Ukraine has significant implications not only for the security of Europe, but also for the Indo-Pacific," Peters said.
A written statement said the money would only be used for weapons and equipment that met New Zealand's international obligations and domestic policies.
Collins said New Zealand stood in solidarity with Ukraine, which was entering its fourth winter defending itself from Russian aggression.
"The challenge for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend its cities and its people remains immense in the face of the ongoing and relentless bombardment of Ukraine by Russian drones," she said.
Ukraine Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko told RNZ he, his president and every Ukrainian was thankful for the funding.
"I was on a trip with Minister Judith Collins in Ukraine three months ago ... she was able to come to some of the sites of the destroyed residential buildings.
"Even for me who had seen it before, that was extremely confronting especially realising that some of those residential buildings, they lost 22 people, 23 people in one go, and the kids were killed there in that same building."
Ukraine Ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
The PURL initiative sells US-manufactured weapons and equipment into Europe and other partners for the defence, in line with the needs identified by Ukraine.
Myroshnychenko said the country had huge demand for ammunition, artillery and air defence missiles to protect critical infrastructure as a fourth winter of fighting closed in.
"Winter is here and ... it's cold, and Russia's hit our electricity distribution system, our power generation, our heating systems and many cities go through blackouts when they don't have a steady supply of electricity. The same applies to heating.
"We estimate it is 150,000 war crimes committed, and lots of crimes against humanity, and the war is still ongoing. Russians control 20 percent of our territory. Ukrainians realise that they don't have an alternative but to fight because if we don't fight we are done. It's the end of Ukraine. It's end of our sovereignty. It's the end of our identity.
"They just erase Ukrainian identity by rewriting curriculums, by forcing everybody to accept Russian citizenship - this is imperialism of the 19th century, and this is so brutal, and Russians are doing it at the moment."
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon observed a joint defence operation to train Ukrainian troops in the South of England in April. Photo: RNZ / Soumya Bhamidipati
The $15m for PURL adds to the $26m already spent on weapons and ammunition, more than $12m for a NATO fund for other equipment, and $4.1m for satellite imagery.
It brings New Zealand's total monetary contributions to more than $53m, more than half of it for weapons and ammunition.
Defence Force personnel have also been involved in training Ukrainian armed forces in the UK and Europe, as well as providing intelligence, logistics and liaison.
Labour's Defence spokesperson Peeni Henare said the funding was a continuation of the kind of model started under the last government, and called for the matter to be debated by the full Parliament.
"Ministerial statements through the House allow the other parties to have a contribution in the debate, and it goes on public record, it allows questions to be asked of ministers ... which hopefully gives us a little bit more comfort about what the plan is.
"The question is, how long is a piece of string? How much longer can New Zealand keep offering support here? Which is why I'd encourage the opportunity to have a debate ... so that we can test the waters again in our democracy about where we stand."
Labour's Defence spokesperson Peeni Henare. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Labour's de facto governing partner the Green Party's spokesperson Teanau Tuiono said he supported the funding too - but there was a smarter way to use it.
"I support the deployment of funding, but I would prefer if it went into humanitarian aid, I would prefer if it wasn't for procurement of weapons ... there's a role we can pay in terms of advancing the issues of peace and diplomacy, and I think those are the things that we should be putting our efforts into.
"And I note the enthusiasm for this government for the Trump administration - we've had them roll out the red carpet for the FBI for example; an increase of defence spending - which will further align us with the US and I think that's a problem."
Henare disagreed on that point.
"We were encouraging, even when we were in power, the role of the US in this whole thing, [that] has always been part of the negotiations and the discussions and the support that we offer around Ukraine.
"We were close with the UK as well - that's why we sent our troops there - and I understand our troops are still there training people so I'm not surprised that the US is still heavily involved."
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