New Zealand's Ardern Decries UN 'Failure' over Ukraine War

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7, 2022. New Zealand's government plans to rush through a new law this week that will enable it to impose economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7, 2022. New Zealand's government plans to rush through a new law this week that will enable it to impose economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)
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New Zealand's Ardern Decries UN 'Failure' over Ukraine War

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7, 2022. New Zealand's government plans to rush through a new law this week that will enable it to impose economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gestures during the post-Cabinet press conference in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, March 7, 2022. New Zealand's government plans to rush through a new law this week that will enable it to impose economic sanctions on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. (Mark Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

The UN Security Council has failed in its response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Thursday, describing Moscow's role as "morally bankrupt."

Ardern, who has long argued against the Security Council veto powers held by the five permanent members Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States, reiterated her call for reform of the body, AFP said.

The UN's "failure" over Ukraine was caused by Russia's position with a veto in the Security Council, she said in an address to the Sydney-based Lowy Institute think-tank during a trade visit to Australia.

Russia had used its place on the council to take a "morally bankrupt position in the wake of a morally bankrupt and illegal war", Ardern said.

New Zealand would seek reforms to the UN Security Council to ensure that its value and relevance does not diminish, she said.

"We must reform the United Nations so that we don't have to rely on individual countries imposing their own autonomous sanctions," Ardern said.

Russia must be held to account for its invasion, she said.

Ardern called for the International Criminal Court in The Hague to get the resources it needs to probe and prosecute war crimes.

New Zealand would intervene as a third party in Ukraine's case against Russia at the court, she added.

- China's role on Ukraine -
But the prime minister warned against taking a "black and white" view of the world, casting the Ukraine invasion as a war between the West and Russia or democracy against autocracy, and pushing away important players such as China.

"Let's not assume that China as a member of the Security Council does not have a role to play in placing pressure in response to what is the loss of territorial integrity at the hands of Russia," the New Zealand leader said.

"Let's not just isolate and assume that it's only democracies that take this view."

China's growing diplomatic and security sway in the Pacific region -- notably its signature of a secretive security pact with Solomon Islands in April -- has fed concern among some Western nations about its intentions.

But Ardern said China had long been a player in the region and it would be wrong to expect sovereign Pacific island states to "pick sides".

As tensions rise in the Pacific, diplomacy should be the "strongest tool", she said, warning against isolating big players instead of engaging with them.

Even as China becomes "more assertive", there are still areas for cooperation with Beijing such as trade, Ardern said.

New Zealand had nevertheless put on record its concerns about China's actions in the South China Sea, Hong Kong and its treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, including through multilateral institutions, she said.



ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
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ICC Warrants are Binding, EU Cannot Pick and Choose, Borrell Says

23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)
23 May 2023, Israel, Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a statement in the Knesset. (dpa)

European Union governments cannot pick and choose whether to execute arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against two Israeli leaders and a Hamas commander, the EU's foreign policy chief said on Saturday.

The ICC issued the warrants on Thursday against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri, for alleged crimes against humanity.

All EU member states are signatories to the ICC's founding treaty, called the Rome Statute.

Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed, but Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.

"The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It's not optional," Josep Borrell, the EU's top diplomat, said during a visit to Cyprus for a workshop of Israeli and Palestinian peace activists.

Those same obligations were also binding on countries aspiring to join the EU, he said.

"It would be very funny that the newcomers have an obligation that current members don't fulfil," he told Reuters.

The United States rejected the ICC's decision and Israel said the ICC move was antisemitic.

"Every time someone disagrees with the policy of one Israeli government - (they are) being accused of antisemitism," said Borrell, whose term as EU foreign policy chief ends this month.

"I have the right to criticize the decisions of the Israeli government, be it Mr Netanyahu or someone else, without being accused of antisemitism. This is not acceptable. That's enough."

Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza has killed about 44,000 Palestinians and displaced nearly all the enclave's population while creating a humanitarian crisis, Gaza officials say.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The warrant for Masri lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks. Israel says it has killed Masri.