The New Zealand parliament is currently expediting a bill through the legislative process in order to enact sanctions against Russian power players and other entities associated with the invasion. I believe that New Zealand should abandon this effort in order to retain avenues of direct communication and de-escalation of the conflict Between Russia and Ukraine. Along these lines, the government should also refrain from expelling the Russian ambassador as some have suggested.
This would not undercut New Zealand's moral authority, with its clear stance against the invasion, having already condemned the invasion, "imposed individual travel bans on high-ranking Russian individuals, limited diplomatic engagements with Russia, imposed a blanket ban on export of goods to Russian military and security forces and pledged $2m in humanitarian aid for Ukraine" according to the RNZ. With limited exposure in New Zealand, adding another level of sanctions has few real consequences for Russia and is primarily a symbolic assertion of Kiwi solidarity with the global anti-invasion movement. On the other hand, New Zealand retains a potentially strategic and critical positionality as a geographically removed actor in this European war, yet a country that maintains a strong "western" identity and therefore the potential to bridge between the rapidly hardening positions of each side. This is important because other western nations that might usually take roles by remaining neutral (Switzerland) or providing quiet facilitation of peace negotiations (Norway) are now directly, threatened, engaged, or implicated in the conflict. New Zealand, as a small global actor with high international credibility, therefore has the potential to engage with other independent actors and maximise other forms of non-violent resistance while providing back channel, tier 1, 2, and 3 diplomatic engagements with the Russian people, civil society, and other regional stakeholders.
The current reality in Ukraine is characterised by what seems like inevitable extreme violence and large scale military action and reactions. However the real inevitability is a trajectory for the cessation of violence through the pursuit of justice and human rights, and the hoped-for restoration of the peoples of places of eastern Europe. This will require the emergence of new and unexpected actors committed to persevering, creative, and courageous dialogue. By laying the groundwork now for a more independent and dynamic engagement, New Zealand can carefully and quietly help discover as-of-yet un-anticipated opportunities to end the horrific violence engulfing the peoples of Ukraine and prevent further self-inflicted harm by Russia and the destabilisation of the wider European community.
