New Zealand announced the application of tariffs and new restrictions on imports from Russia

New Zealand authorities announced Wednesday that the country will apply 35 percent tariffs on all imports from Russia and extend existing export bans to industrial products closely related to strategic Russian industries.

“The images and reports emerging from atrocities committed against civilians in Bucha and other regions of Ukraine are abominable and reprehensible, and New Zealand continues to respond to Putin's senseless acts of aggression,” said Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta.

In this regard, he stressed that Russia must “be held accountable for war crimes and atrocities committed against innocent civilians.” “Along with 41 other countries, New Zealand announced its support for the prosecution of the International Criminal Court (ICJ) and provided funding for the investigation,” he added.

Thus, these new sanctions applied by New Zealand seek to “pressure the Putin regime” along with other measures implemented by the international community “to end hostilities in Ukraine,” said Trade Minister Damien O'Connor.

These new sanctions announced by the New Zealand authorities are expected to take effect on 25 April, as stated in a statement from the New Zealand Executive, which has stated that “it is New Zealand's most significant economic response to the Russian invasion to date”.

For its part, the White House announced on Tuesday that it will give another $100 million in military aid to Ukraine, bringing US assistance to the European country to more than $1.7 billion since the Russian invasion began.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated in a note that he authorized today on the order of President Joe Biden a new withdrawal of DOD artifacts “to meet Ukraine's urgent need for additional anti-weapon systems.”

Pentagon spokesman John Kirby specified that these are Javelin anti-weapon missiles, which the US has been supplying to Ukraine and with which he assured that the country has been defending itself “very effectively.”

Blinken, who recalled the “atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha,” stressed that Washington and its allies will continue to strongly support Ukraine in the “courageous” defense of its “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

In that regard, he argued that more than 30 countries, in addition to the US, have been sending military aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24.

“Together, we are sending security assistance every day and we are accelerating the shipment of even more weapons and defense equipment that Ukraine uses to defend itself,” he added.

In addition to “strengthening Ukraine's position on the battlefield and the negotiating table,” its allies are gathering data to “document reported abuses” and bring them to the appropriate bodies to purge accountability, he said.

(With information from Europa Press)

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