Here is Tova's interview with President Zelensky

Tova O’Brien interviewed Volodymyr Zelensky in person. She is the only New Zealander to speak with him face to face since the war began. I have listened to the whole interview. It is excellent. I would recommend you listen to it. I also think our government really needs to listen to it. I have Tweeted our parliament here. Please Like, Reply or Reweet. I think it is important that the government takes the time to listen to this interview.

A lot has happened since my last update. I have been struggling with COVID so I haven't really been in a state to comment, but some things have come up that really need comment.

The Ukrainian ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko has travelled to New Zealand for the first time over the last couple of weeks. He has met with the Minister of Defence, Peeni Henare and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nanaia Mahuta. I don't think he has met our Prime Minister yet. He also had many interviews with the New Zealand media.

While the ambassador was still in New Zealand it was announced by the NZ government that a further 120 NZDF personnel would be sent to the UK to help with training of Ukrainian armed forces. The timing of this announcement suggests that it was somehow linked to the ambassador's arrival in NZ, but it is hard to say for certain.

The ambassador has also specifically requested New Zealand's armoured vehicles and howitzers. This means that there is now no ambiguity over what Ukraine wants. They do want our surplus armoured vehicles. However the government has denied them on this request.

It seems that Ukraine is even considering offering to buy some of New Zealand's LAVs, as you can hear about in this interview. It is a little hard to make out some of the details at the end of this interview but my understanding is that Ukraine has not yet offered to buy the LAVs, although they did discuss the LAVs and the L119 artillery pieces, among other things.

I can understand if the New Zealand government doesn't listen to me, after all I am not a public figure, but the NZ government should be listening to ambassador Vasyl and president Zelensky. The NZ government has not listened to these important people on two issues - firstly the PM has not travelled to meet Zelensky in person and has announced that she isn't even planning to visit Europe. Secondly, the defence minister and the rest of the government have not listened to the military aid requests from ambassador Vasyl around LAVs and L119 artillery pieces.

Thank you,

Finn