Ukraine crisis: Russia aggression on Cabinet agenda as Jacinda Ardern mulls next move

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will discuss Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Cabinet today. Photo / Mark Mitchell.

The crisis in Ukraine is on Cabinet's agenda as it meets today, with ministers mulling what action New Zealand can take against Russia.

Cabinet ministers will deliberate on what to do next, although no recommendations on next steps regarding any possible sanctions or response will be put to ministers today.

There will be a notice of motion to discuss the invasion when Parliament resumes sitting on Tuesday, meaning MPs from all parties will have the opportunity to discuss the invasion.

The discussion will almost certainly involve each party condemning Russia.

National and Act are likely to use the occasion to bring up the Government's hesitancy to pass autonomous sanctions legislation, which hampers the Government's ability to impose more far-reaching sanctions.

Currently, New Zealand can only impose sanctions on countries using a process that goes through the United Nations. Supporters of autonomous sanctions argue this is flawed because countries like Russia have a veto on the United Nations security council, allowing them to veto any sanctions on themselves and their allies.

The Government is currently weighing up its next steps against Russia. One course of action would involve an autonomous sanctions regime, although the Government has significant reservations about the unintended consequences of such a regime.

Another course of action would involve a different law change, and could mean the Government would be respond to this conflict, as well as others, and also respond to human rights violations, which might not involve any conflict at all.

A response could be targeting individuals' assets.

Unveiling New Zealand's first response to the crisis on Friday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the Government had not "reached a final conclusion" on the matter.

"I would make no assumption about the position," she said.

"Obviously the autonomous sanction regimes that have been proposed in the past don't for instance cover situations of human rights violations," she said.

There is some anxiety in the Government that an autonomous sanctions regime could put New Zealand in a difficult position in further crises, when one overseas power or another could try to cajole New Zealand into imposing sanctions our Government did not necessarily agree with.

A lack of autonomous sanctions regime meant New Zealand was unlikely to ever be put in this position.

National has called for autonomous sanctions legislation to be passed. It has legislation on the order paper at the end of its three terms in Government. That legislation was never passed and finally dropped by the current Government.

National's foreign affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee tried to get a similar bill passed as a members bill, but it was voted down by Labour and the Greens last year.

Brownlee said the current system was a "joke".

The Government has already unveiled a suite of measures in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Friday, which included a travel ban on Russians associated with the invasion, banning goods exports to the military, and a suspension of foreign ministry "consultations".