Sep. 27 () –
The New Zealand government announced sanctions on Tuesday against “relatives” of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov for the invasion of Ukraine, unleashed on February 24 by order of the Russian president.
The New Zealand Foreign Minister, Nanaia Mahuta, has detailed that “those sanctioned today include ministers, non-permanent members of the Russian Security Council, relatives of Putin and Kadyrov”, before adding that all of them “are part of a network of influence around Putin and have used their positions to threaten Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
“Ukraine has made it clear that the most important actions we can take to help them are sanctions and support them in the conflict, as we continue to do,” explained Mahuta, who stressed that New Zealand joins with these sanctions “to the efforts to put pressure on Putin and those who support his illegal war in Ukraine.
In this sense, he specified that the ministry “first acted against powerful and wealthy individuals in Russia with sanctions against political elites in March and May of this year”, while detailing that the new battery of measures affects 19 people.
“Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine has already caused thousands of deaths, a massive humanitarian crisis and untold suffering. Any step by Russia that threatens further escalation of the war in Ukraine is reckless and irresponsible.” “, has explained.
Likewise, he has criticized the referendums that are being held in four Ukrainian regions occupied by Russian forces and has emphasized that it represents “an additional act of aggression” and “a violation of the fundamental norms of International Law”.
New Zealand authorities have imposed sanctions against more than a thousand Russian individuals and entities since the start of the war, measures that Mahuta has framed “in efforts to hold Russia accountable and support Ukraine.”
