Prime Minister Christopher Luxon skipped an earlier meeting held at 1am due to the time zone difference. (File photo) Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says he underscored New Zealand's support for Ukraine during a Coalition of the Willing video call overnight and emphasised the need to keep the pressure on Russia.
Luxon was invited to speak to the virtual meeting of more than 30 world leaders overnight following the White House summit on Ukraine. It came after he skipped an earlier meeting held at 1am on Monday due to the time zone difference.
He said the debrief meeting focused on security guarantees for Ukraine and the path to a potential peace settlement.
"The key thing that we have really focused on is making sure we put real definition around the security guarantees," Luxon told reporters afterwards. "There's work over the next five days to do that between the US and European teams."
Luxon said Ukraine must be included in any discussions on a peace plan. He said he also stressed the need to apply "maximum pressure" on Russia through sanctions and continued military support.
"We've got to keep [Russian President Vladimir] Putin in this process, and he needs to be be pushed pretty hard."
Asked if New Zealand could take part in an eventual coalition peacekeeping force, Luxon said no firm plan had yet emerged.
"We're open to it, as I've said before, but obviously any decision we would take back to our Cabinet before we would commit to doing so," he said.
Pressed on whether that could include deploying troops, Luxon repeated New Zealand was "open to doing whatever we can to support a post-peace settlement plan for Ukraine", but said no details had yet been finalised.
He said ongoing discussions had indicated a need for the global community to be involved in a post-war Ukraine, but that remained "a wee way away" at this stage.
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