Opinion: Russia's ambassador is overdue a trip home

Russian Ambassador Georgii Zuev. Photo / NZ Govt

OPINION

One hundred and ninety days. That's how long it's been since I first asked these two questions: Why is the Russian ambassador still parked-up at the embassy in Wellington? And when is the Government going to kick him out?

That was on March 17 - 28 days after Russia launched its attack on Ukraine.

It will be seven months ago tomorrow (Saturday) when Putin said "fire".

But despite all the death and carnage, Russia's ambassador is still in New Zealand and still pumping out the propaganda on the embassy's Facebook page.

You may remember the stuff the embassy was posting back in March, saying that that appalling missile strike on the maternity and children's hospital in Ukraine was fake news because the hospital was empty and was just being used by the Ukrainians for firing practice. And it's still at it.

As I said back in March, if the ambassador wants to post that sort of propaganda on Facebook, let him do it in Moscow - not Wellington.

The question about the Russian ambassador's ongoing presence in New Zealand is up for discussion again today for two reasons: National's Foreign Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee has repeated his demands for the ambassador to be expelled, and the Foreign Affairs Minister is now actually saying for the first time that the Government is "actively considering" finally doing it

Nanaia Mahuta yesterday described President Vladimir Putin's threat of nuclear war as an "increased escalation of tension that is not helpful on a number of fronts".

Don't you just love the diplomatic weasel words? Here we've got a guy saying "don't make me press the button and go nuclear", and the diplomatic-speak describes that as "not helpful on a number of fronts".

Still, the way the Government's talking about this now is light years ahead of what it's been saying up until now. Until yesterday, it had been saying that kicking out the ambassador wasn't an option because it wanted to keep the diplomatic channels open. Although, the PM appeared to be pouring cold water on that earlier today.

My position hasn't changed since March. I thought then that it was appalling that the ambassador was still here - it's even more appalling that he's still here, seven months since the invasion. More so actually, given Putin's threat to go nuclear.

As Gerry Brownlee is saying: "The Russian Ambassador should have been expelled long before now. His continued presence in New Zealand is completely untenable with the ongoing atrocities and escalation of Russia's war on Ukraine.

"New Zealand has always been proud of its nuclear-free stance. The Government needs to respond to the threat of nuclear retaliation by finally expelling the Russian ambassador."

And I couldn't agree more with Gerry Brownlee.

The guy should have gone months ago. And, in my mind, expulsion is the only option.