Geoffrey Miller

International analyst Geoffrey Miller considers options for New Zealand’s response to Russia’s incursion into Ukraine Nanaia Mahuta’s visit to Europe this week gained new significance after Russia’s deployment of troops to eastern Ukraine – a development that US President Joe Biden has called “the beginning of a Russian invasion.” New Zealand’s foreign minister had just arrived in Paris to attend an EU-hosted Indo-Pacific Forum when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he would officially recognise the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine’s Donbas region. Putin later ordered ‘peacekeeping’ troops into the area. A live TV interview with Mahuta, conducted...

International analyst Geoffrey Miller explains the significance of Antony Blinken’s whistle-stop tour of the region With the Ukraine-Russia crisis escalating by the day, it might seem a little odd that the US Secretary of State spent his weekend flying around the Pacific. New Zealand was left off an itinerary that included Australia and Fiji, but only because of the current Covid-19 border restrictions. Foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta received a phone call from Antony Blinken on Saturday instead. The State Department later said the pair discussed the “collective challenges of the Indo-Pacific” and “their shared commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial...

International analyst Geoffrey Miller examines New Zealand’s positioning amidst tensions between Russia, Ukraine and the West New Zealand’s initial response to a potential invasion of Ukraine by Russia is becoming clearer. Russia has positioned around 100,000 troops stationed close to Ukraine’s borders and the US says that Russia now has the capability to invade if it chooses to do so. Russia denies it has any such plans. New Zealand’s foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta issued a written statement to media last week that said “we call on Russia to act in a manner consistent with international law and to take immediate...

Ambiguity and contradiction over China have been hallmarks of New Zealand’s foreign policy throughout 2021. In this respect, the Government’s hawkish new defence assessment, coupled with conflicting comments by ministers about New Zealand’s view on a diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing, was a fitting end to the year. The assessment, released on Wednesday, bluntly called out China as “seeking to reshape the international system”. In tone and in substance, the document comfortably put New Zealand on the same page as the Australia and the US. But comments made the same day by deputy Prime Minister Grant...

International analyst Geoffrey Miller examines Nanaia Mahuta’s first travel abroad as foreign minister Nanaia Mahuta’s first foreign trip is finally underway. New Zealand’s foreign minister began a seven-country tour of Australia, Singapore, Indonesia, the UAE, Qatar, the US and Canada on Thursday. Mahuta was appointed foreign minister a year ago this month. New Zealand’s specific elimination approach to Covid-19, with isolation requirements for returning travellers, explains some of the delay – especially in the period before vaccines became widely available. Still, Damien O’Connor, the trade minister, managed to make his first foreign trip five months ago – to Europe in...