Nato summit ends, aid for Ukraine and troops extended in Red Sea

Today NATO’s 75th summit has come to an end and Defence and Foreign Affairs Ministers announced extended deployments to Red Sea.

The NATO Summit in Washington D.C. has finished and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has departed for San Francisco for political calls and business engagements.

Ukraine top of the agenda

The war in Ukraine was at the top of the NATO summit agenda.

The invasion of Ukraine is said to have been provoked by Russian concerns of NATO expansion, the military alliance was established during the Cold War for security against the Soviet Union. NATO has said Russia remains a significant threat to security.

Oxfam America said as of February 2024 10,582 civilians have been killed in the conflict, 587 of them children.

Earlier in the week, Russian missiles attacked Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv.

Luxon publicly expressed disgust at the attack and announced increased support to Ukraine with $6m towards military assistance and $10m in humanitarian assistance.

This brings the total value of New Zealand’s assistance to Ukraine to $130m in the last two and a half years since Russia invaded in February 2022.

New sanctions under the Russia Sanctions Act 2022 were said to be announced in the coming days.

“Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine is in total defiance of international law,” said Luxon.

Indo-Pacific Four at NATO

NATO said it was strengthening dialogue and cooperation with partners in the Indo-Pacific region.

These countries are being referred to as the IP4 and include Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand.

Today Luxon chaired a meeting with the IP4, where the president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy was in attendance.

RNZ reported that Luxon told Zelensky the IP-4 countries “shared in Ukraine’s outrage at Russia’s callous disregard for life.”

Luxon agreed to refresh New Zealand’s long-standing partnership with NATO and welcomed the alliance’s Indo-Pacific Flagship Projects, including military healthcare in Ukraine.

Deployment to the Red Sea

New Zealand’s current deployment in the Red Sea has been extended.

The deployment targets Yemen Houthis who are trying to stop trade with Israel amid its relentless assault on the Gaza Strip, which a majority of US-based Middle East scholars have compared to genocide or akin to genocide.

“The decision to extend this deployment is reflective of the continued need to partner and act in line with New Zealand’s values,” said Defence Minister Judith Collins.

The deployment is mandated to end on January 31, 2025.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said, “The ongoing indiscriminate Houthi attacks on international shipping are illegal, against our values, and continue to affect New Zealand’s economy.”

No word on Gaza at NATO summit

Pro-Palestine activist Will Alexander went on a hunger strike in May.

One of his demands was for the government to withdraw troops from the Red Sea.

“New Zealand troops have been deployed to the Red Sea to support its ally, the United States of America, in bombing Yemen for disrupting commercial shipments linked to Israel,” Alexander said.

Activists have criticised the inconsistencies in upholding international law and have condemned the government for not placing economic, military, and political sanctions on Israel/

Peoples Dispatch said 14,350 Palestinian children were murdered between October 7 and April 14.

“The New Zealand Government has long advocated for international law as the best way to protect small states. It is very keen on international law when it comes to Russia. The very same laws and same standards must apply to Israel,” said Valerie Morse a member of Peace Action Wellington.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins spoke to RNZ from a homeless youth support organisation on July 10. He challenged the prime minister to “use the opportunity of being at NATO” to condemn the “unjust” war in Gaza.