New Zealand will provide Ukraine with a new aid package worth NZD 8 million (USD 4.77 million) and impose additional sanctions against Russia’s war machine, according to a statement published on the New Zealand government’s website on Tuesday.
“Russia’s relentless bombardment of civilian infrastructure this winter has hit Ukraine’s people hard, and this assistance demonstrates New Zealand’s continued solidarity. These contributions will help address urgent needs as a result of Russia’s brutal winter attacks on Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure,” said Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
New Zealand will allocate NZD 5 million in humanitarian assistance to international partners supporting Ukrainian civilians severely affected by the war. This brings New Zealand’s total humanitarian aid to Ukraine over the past four years to NZD 45 million.
A further NZD 3 million will be directed to the Ukraine Relief, Recovery, Reconstruction and Reform Trust Fund administered by the World Bank, which supports energy resilience and reconstruction efforts.
New Zealand has also announced its 34th package of sanctions against Russia, which includes lowering the price cap on Russian crude oil and imposing sanctions on 100 vessels of the shadow fleet.
“These are calculated steps to curtail crucial oil revenues fuelling Putin’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine,” Peters said.
New Zealand has also imposed sanctions on entities from Belarus, Iran and North Korea, as well as on alternative payment service providers, malicious cyber actors, and those supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex.
