Ukraine must be at the negotiating table, Christopher Luxon says

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it's not unreasonable for Ukraine to expect to be at the negotiating table. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says it's not unreasonable for Ukraine to expect to be at the negotiating table, after its president's public spat with the US leadership.

The meeting at the White House on Saturday saw US President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance berating Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky for his lack of deference.

Zelenksy then cut short his visit, leaving ahead of a scheduled joint press conference and without signing a minerals agreement with the US.

Speaking to Morning Report on Tuesday, Luxon said what New Zealand wanted was the US and Ukraine working together towards a shared objective.

"[Ukraine has] been beat up by big power that came in, in an illegal and immoral war ... it's not an unreasonable thing that we expect Ukraine to be at that table," he said.

He said he believed the US did want peace in Ukraine, but "I appreciate there's differences on how to go about doing that. That's why we need those two parties of the US, Ukraine working together with Europe on a solution".

Luxon on Monday had told reporters at his post-Cabinet meeting media briefing the Oval Office spat was a "tough watch" both sides acknowledged could have gone better.

He said New Zealand continued to stand with Ukraine.

"Just remember, it was Russia that invaded the Ukraine, and they were the aggressor, and Ukraine was the victim of that, and so we stand with them," he said.

"We want a just and lasting peace. And for that to happen, we need the US and Ukraine and Europe to be involved in actually developing that peace plan, and you know that's what we all want to see. But again, we are a country of values and we stand up for nation sovereign states and we stand up for freedom of navigation, we stand up for the rules-based system."

But he continued to trust Trump.

"Yes, I do. I trust the President and I trust the American system and that we can work well with the American system. I will continue to act in our national interests as you would expect me to do, but I think we can work well, we work well with a number of leaders and partners around the world."

Asked whether the US valued the rules-based system over wielding power, Luxon said he thought the administration understood the importance of that system, "and our job as a country with an independent foreign policy, acting in our own national interests, continue to advocate for it - and that's what we do".

Labour's leader Chris Hipkins on Monday flatly refused to say he still had trust in Trump after the argument with Zelensky.

"Well, frankly, it's a question I'm going to dodge," he said. "But ... I think we should be clear as a country that the views expressed in that Oval Office meeting do not reflect the views of New Zealanders.

"I was certainly very concerned by what we saw in the Oval Office interchange over the weekend - I think there was a lack of respect in that interchange, but I don't think it was President Zelensky that was showing that lack of respect.

"President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine are fighting for democracy. They're fighting for the survival of their country. They have done that with exceptional perseverance over the last three years. I think it's good that the Prime Minister of New Zealand has today once again, restated New Zealand's support for Ukraine."

He said it was clear the White House's position and America's position on the war had changed, and New Zealand did need to consider that.

Asked about China's increasing dominance in the Pacific, Hipkins said it underscored the importance of continuing to have an independent foreign policy.