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Two allied moves in mid-August 2022
Summary
A New Zealand troop deployment and a Latvian parliamentary declaration showed support for Ukraine reaching beyond Europe's core.
What did support for Ukraine look like away from the front line on 16 August 2022? Two recent decisions offered an answer, one military and one political.
On 15 August 2022, the prime minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern, announced the deployment of 120 New Zealand troops to the United Kingdom. Their task was to train Ukrainian forces. The commitment placed training, rather than combat, at the centre of New Zealand's contribution, and it was carried out on British soil.
On 11 August 2022, the Latvian Parliament declared Russia a state sponsor of terrorism over its invasion of Ukraine. The step was a formal parliamentary judgment on Moscow's conduct, taken by a neighbour of Russia.
Together, the two decisions showed different routes of backing for Kyiv: practical help for preparing Ukrainian soldiers, and a formal political condemnation of Russia. One came from a country in the Pacific, the other from one bordering Russia.
