Cabinet to consider bill for more sanctions on Russia

The prime minister believes New Zealand can do more to halt Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"What we’ve done to date is very much in line with what many other countries have done. But we do want to do more," Jacinda Ardern told Breakfast on Monday.

She said Cabinet would be considering a bill which has been drafted "specifically for this conflict".

"We'll be looking at the ability for New Zealand to add additional sanctions and also making sure that we can target those who may have influence on the Russian regime and the ability to continue to put pressure on Russia overall to ensure we're doing all that we can in preventing any in-flow of investment as a result of other countries' sanctions. That will go to Cabinet today. I’ll talk a bit more about it this afternoon."

You can keep up with the latest developments on the invasion of Ukraine here

The New Zealand Government is providing $2 million as an initial contribution to help deliver humanitarian support to Ukraine.

New Zealand also provides annual funds to a UN emergency response fund, which has announced it will put $20 million towards helping humanitarian agencies scale up their Ukraine response.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said last week 170 applications for visas from Ukrainian people will be fast-tracked. He said half of the applications are from people in New Zealand with temporary visas, and the other half are overseas.

Among the other actions taken by the New Zealand Government are targeted travel bans, the prohibition of the export of goods to Russian military and security forces, and the suspension of bilateral foreign ministry consultations until further notice.

Beyond that, the National Party is calling for a humanitarian visa for refugees from Ukraine who have family in New Zealand. Meanwhile, the Greens want New Zealand to take 2000 refugees from Ukraine.

Breakfast's Matty McLean felt the world was staring down the barrel of a massive refugee crisis and said New Zealand's 1500 quota was not enough.

Inga Tokarenko, a Ukrainian in New Zealand, has started a petition calling for New Zealand to take in Ukrainian refugees.

"I'm asking the Government to open up the borders for the Ukrainian refugees. I'm asking the Government to increase the quota because 1500 people is nowhere near enough," she told Breakfast ahead of the prime minister's interview.

"I feel like we can do so much more than sit here and say we support Ukrainians."

Anastasiya Gutorova, another Ukrainian in New Zealand, has written an open letter to Ardern.

She told Breakfast she did not feel New Zealand had taken meaningful steps over the conflict.

"They need help right now," Gutorova said of shortages of supplies.

“I am speaking to my family almost hourly to make sure that they’re still safe. That’s what it’s like right now.”

"It is New Zealand's responsibility to take some of them in and show them the haven that we are," she said.

"I think it's essential. That's what we've done in the past and that's what we need to do now."

Asked by McLean why New Zealand had not extended its refugee quota, Ardern replied: "Firstly, I can't actually imagine what it would be like to have family in the conflict right now."

She said the Government had already doubled the quota when it was elected to 1500 and explained it worked with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to make sure it is filled.

"What I think many people are looking for though is just an immediate response. Because we work through the UNHCR it does take a little bit longer and that's because they work with us to make sure we're identifying and supporting refugees' immediate needs.

"What we're looking at at the moment, we know that the likes of Poland and many countries in the surrounding area are the ones currently baring the brunt of people's movements. That's because, as you can imagine, people are coming out and wanting to see whether or not they'll be able to come home, to find their family, to stay in their regions," Ardern said.

"So we're looking at whether there's extra support we could be providing to surrounding areas who do have the majority of people movement at the moment," she added.

In wake of criticism from McLean that other western countries are imposing much heavier economic sanctions than New Zealand is on Russia — he said New Zealand's were "understated in comparison" — Ardern said those sanctions are specific to how those countries engaged with Russia around its trade of energy and in financial institutions.

She said those are not all relevant to NZ.

"However, what we want to make sure is that as countries put in limits that we are not suddenly the recipient of the in-flow of investment because we have those who are looking to avoid sanctions in other countries," Ardern said.

"So, taking a pre-emptive move there is really important. We also want to make sure we're taking measures around what we do with flights, airspace, maritime paths. Just thinking generally about how we can also target oligarchs, making sure it's a really comprehensive response."