1News Europe Correspondent Kate Nicol-Williams travelled to Ukraine with the New Zealand Government delegation and filed this report on her return to Poland.
Defence Minister Judith Collins has just completed a top-secret visit to Ukraine’s capital Kyiv to meet with the at-war Government.
The visit included laying flowers to pay tribute to those who have been killed in the war, meeting with Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, her defence counterpart Denys Shmyhal, and taking part in a country-to-country meeting.
Inside Defence Minister’s top-secret visit to war-torn Kyiv – watch on TVNZ+
Collins said: “I think it’s very important for us to give that support to the people because they know we come from as far away as you can get and that we do this because we believe in democracy, believe in freedom, believe in a rules-based order and as a small nation, it’s in our best interest to be on the side of what’s right not what’s powerful.”
She also visited the district of Solomyanski to see where a ballistic missile hit an apartment building in June, killing 23 people according to the Ukraine Government.
“It looked to me like it was an appalling war crime and little children killed, people killed, 3 o’clock in the morning, no time to do anything about it,” Collins said.
Last week, at least 25 people were killed when Kyiv was struck in Russia’s second largest attack on the capital.
Drones above Kyiv
Collins’ visit was monitored by the New Zealand Defence Force and other New Zealand agencies, as well as local and international security with a range of security procedures and measures in place, including not staying in Kyiv overnight.
Drones, expected to be performing reconnaissance for future strikes, were seen in Kyiv the day before the Minister arrived. Air raid sirens went off for Kyiv with the city in a ‘red alert’, while the Minister made a 12-hour journey by train from Poland.
“Dealing with air raids and drone attacks, they’re just getting on and that I think this is one of the strongest messages you can put to the world, they’re not being intimidated and we’re here to support them,” Collins said.
The Minister travelled with the New Zealand Ambassador to Poland, the Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Tony Davies, and other Defence staff.
On seeing the bombed apartment, Air Marshal Davies called it a “really visceral example of just how atrocious this war is”.
Handbags still hanging on hooks could be seen in one room next to where the building had partially collapsed.
“It’s really disturbing to actually be here, to see this sort of thing in person, watching it on TV from the other side of the world is one thing but when you come and look at this and consider how many lives were needlessly lost brutally in the middle of the night, it’s shocking.”
Intense diplomacy
The visit comes during a period of intense diplomatic efforts from the West and Europe to bring an end to the war but not much has changed on the Russian side.
Discussions have recently focused on what security guarantees for Ukraine should include and which countries will be involved, to protect the war-torn country from future Russian aggression.
The UK and France have led the so-called ‘coalition of the willing’ talks since work on a reassurance force began in March.
The United States has pledged security support such as through air defences but has ruled out sending American troops to Ukraine.
New Zealand is taking part in these discussions but says any decision about New Zealand’s participation after a peace settlement is a decision for Cabinet.
“It strengthens my resolve to continue to stand up for Ukraine and I’m sure that the Cabinet agrees that this is a good cause,” Collins said.
The Defence Minister told her Ukrainian counterpart that she looks forward to a time where she can hear how New Zealand can be involved in peacekeeping. She told him New Zealand is involved in talks so “we can make sure we know where we can add value”.
Visit to Ukraine by the NZ Defence Minister was kept under wraps until she left the country. (Source: 1News)
A statement from the Defence Minister earlier this year noted New Zealand’s history of peace keeping and said “naturally” a request would be considered.
‘Going nowhere’
Chatham House senior consulting fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme Keir Giles told 1News at this stage, the talks are “going nowhere”.
“Because all of this is based on the idea that first the fighting has to stop and there’s no prospect of that happening at all,” he said.
The UK Government said in a press release about the coalition of the willing that despite the war continuing, members need to progress security guarantee plans now so they are ready to deploy a force within days of fighting stopping.
Giles said Europe is at risk of being trapped by Russia into accepting the country’s terms for a ceasefire, in their desperate state to end the fighting. These typically impose “impossible” terms on the country it’s attacking and give Russia freedom to act in its interests.
“We’ve seen that before in Georgia, in Syria, and in Ukraine itself under the Minsk agreements.”
He said Ukraine faces being forced to give up territory and recognise the occupied areas as Russian, limit its military size and declare a unilateral ceasefire because of the threat of the United States removing support.
“Ukraine’s position changed fundamentally as soon as [US President] Donald Trump came into office with his promise of ending the war, because the only way that he can see of ending the war is to force Ukraine to surrender, to force it to accept Moscow’s terms,” Giles said.
Europe is increasing defence spending but is still recovering from cutting military investment in peacetime after the Cold War ended. That’s why European leaders like UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are pushing for military superpower the United States to be involved in Ukraine’s security.
“The problem that European powers and others in the coalition of the willing face is that they have to send into Ukraine a force that is powerful enough that when Russia tests it, when Russia attacks it, which it certainly will, it can withstand that attack because if there’s a force that goes in and then retreats under pressure, pulls out of Ukraine the first time it’s attacked by Russia, that’s worse than not going in in the first place,” Giles said.
Currently, Giles said Russian President Vladimir Putin and others in Moscow think there’s more to gain from continuing fighting than freezing the war with the territory gained.
Recently, Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov claimed the Russian army was speeding up its advance with 600-700 square km taken per month.
This was dismissed by the Institute for the Study of War, who called it a “very big exaggeration”.
Giles said he wouldn’t be surprised if Ukraine launched a strategic surprise, referencing Ukraine creating its own weapons which can strike deeper into Russia and don’t come with the restrictions that come from using Western weapons.
NZ support
Since March 2022, the New Zealand Defence Force has been supporting Ukraine’s wider war effort with personnel.
There are 100 members currently deployed in the UK and throughout Europe providing training, intelligence, liaison and logistics support through to December next year.
This work, alongside the participation of other countries, has seen more than 56,000 Ukrainian personnel trained.
In total, New Zealand has announced more than $168 million in financial assistance and military in-kind support for Ukraine since the invasion began. This also includes funding for humanitarian assistance, recovery efforts and international legal and human rights efforts.
Russia’s war is the biggest European invasion since the end of WWII.
