“Ukraine fights on the battlefield, but it also fights in the hearts and minds of free people worldwide – including here in the Pacific,” she said.
“We honour the sacrifices made and the lives forever changed. We remember the soldiers standing firm, the civilians enduring displacement and destruction, and the countless lives lost to Russia’s barbaric aggression.”
Auckland-based Ukrainian Edward Patkevych, who recently filled up a seventh container of medical supplies, told the Herald that people from around New Zealand turned up to help.
“People arrived from Christchurch, Tauranga, Whangārei, from other cities just to help us,” he said.
He estimated in Ukraine, there were three times as many injured soldiers than medical equipment to use.
In the latest twist in a whirlwind first month since he took office, US President Donald Trump says he wants compensation for US aid provided to Ukraine by his predecessor Joe Biden.
The 47th president has upended US foreign policy by making diplomatic overtures towards the Kremlin over the heads of Ukraine and Europe.
Trump told delegates at the Conservative Political Action Conference near Washington: “I’m trying to get the money back, or secured”.
“I want them to give us something for all of the money that we put up. We’re asking for rare earth and oil, anything we can get.”
On Wednesday local time, Trump branded his Ukrainian democratically elected counterpart a “dictator” and called for him to “move fast” to end the war, a day after Russian and US officials held talks in Saudi Arabia without Kyiv.
Ukrainian ambassador to Australia and NZ Vasyl Myroshnychenko said NZ’s support of Ukraine was an investment rather than a cost.
Myroshnychenko pitched the idea during his recent meeting with Foreign Minister Winston Peters.
“I wanted to thank them for their support and explain that support for Ukraine is not a charity but an investment into the security of NZ,” he said.
“The issue of sovereignty is important to NZ and for countries around NZ. The protection countries have in the UN Charter went down the drain with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“If there is one country who can use weapons and force to take over one country, then others will say ‘if Russia can do it, why can’t we do it?‘”
Myroshnychenko said Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visiting Ukraine would be a strong sign of solidarity.
Luxon recently said he was open to NZ sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, following Britain’s lead.
David Williams is an Auckland-based multimedia journalist who joined the Herald in 2023. He covers breaking news and general topics.
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