New Zealand PM Warns Western Allies Against Polarizing Europe, Calls for Diplomacy in Ukraine Crisis

The US and its European allies have tried to frame Ukraine's conflict as a battle between "democracy and autocracy." However, the characterization hasn’t received support from much of the rest of the world, including close US partners such as India and Japan.

New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday decried the approach of isolating big countries instead of engaging them, insisting "diplomacy must become the strongest tool and de-escalation the loudest call."

As she was addressing a gathering organized by the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Ardern argued that it is overly simplistic to see modern geopolitics as a contest between democracies and authoritarian states, given that the world is "bloody messy."

"In the wake of the tensions we see rising including in our Indo-Pacific region, diplomacy must become the strongest tool and de-escalation the loudest call. We won’t succeed, however, if those parties we seek to engage with are increasingly isolated and the region we inhabit becomes increasingly divided and polarized," Ardern emphasized.

She further stated that the world shouldn't "naturally assume" that the Ukraine crisis "is a demonstration of the inevitable trajectory in other areas of the geostrategic contest," Ardern added.

The PM may have been referring to allegations made by the US administration, as in May, the US intelligence chief claimed China was learning "some very interesting lessons" from the Ukraine conflict in preparation for military action against Taiwan.

Adern also denounced attempts to induce bloc confrontation in the Asia-Pacific over concerns about China's growing presence in the region.

"France, Japan, the UK, US, and China have all played a role in the Pacific for many, many years. It would be wrong to characterize this engagement, including that of China, as new. It would also be wrong to position the Pacific in such a way that they have to pick sides," she underlined.

New Zealand, an ally of the US in the Five Eyes (FVEY) intelligence alliance, also comprising Australia, Canada, and the UK, faced anger from Beijing over remarks made by Ardern at the NATO summit in Spain blaming China for rising tensions in the South Pacific region.

Countries like China and India, among others, have refused to condemn or sanction Russia despite repetitive calls given by the US in response to the ongoing conflict in Eastern Europe.

On Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar asserted that India has taken the "right course" on the Ukraine conflict, noting that it is a "very complex matter where the most urgent issue is to prevent hostilities from escalating."

Many African countries, South Asian nations, and Latin American countries remain ambivalent about events in Ukraine. G20 host nation Indonesia has also refused to exclude Russia from the summit, scheduled to be held in November in Bali.