[1][2] In the twentieth century, relations continued to be mixed as Soviet politics were seen as subversive, with election cartoons showing sinister Bolshevik agents from the 1920s on.

National won the 1975 election, helped by a television advertisement and the implication that Labour's proposed Superannuation scheme would lead to state control.

In 1980 New Zealand sent a small rump team to the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, although the government persuaded most local sporting bodies to join the boycott in protest of the Soviet–Afghan War.

Muldoon avoided any interference with trading relations; Gerald Hensley recalls that in 1979 the Soviet ambassador to New Zealand (Sofinsky): "broke a prime rule of the diplomatic game and in the absence of his KGB man .... handed over a subsidy to the Soviet-aligned Socialist Unity Party .... and was caught by our security service" and so was to be expelled.

"[3] Similarly an order for rolling stock (New Zealand EM class electric multiple unit) for the government-owned railways was placed with Hungary rather than Japan for balance-of-trade reasons.

[4] After the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991, bilateral trade between New Zealand and the Russian Federation slumped dramatically, but picked up again later in the decade.

[5] In November 2010, New Zealand commenced negotiations to form a free trade agreement with the Russian Federation, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.

[6] In early November 2017, it was reported that the New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters would explore resuming trade negotiations with Russia.

New Zealand Council of Trade Unions Director Bill Rosenberg also expressed concern about Russia's "poor" labour standards.

[10][11] In response to the 2021–2022 Russo-Ukrainian crisis, New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta criticised the Russian military buildup on the Ukrainian border and supported Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

[15][16] In response, Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon stated that Ukrainians and Russians living in New Zealand were "feeling the pain of what's happening with the war in Ukraine" and urged different communities "to be considerate, to be respectful and to be kind.

Key provisions include freezing assets based in New Zealand; preventing people and companies from moving their money and assets to NZ in order to escape foreign sanctions; banning super yachts, ships and aircraft from entering New Zealand waters and airspace, and imposing a travel ban on 100 senior Russian officials.

[32] That same day, the Australian and New Zealand government had endorsed a joint Call to Action against Russian and North Korean shadow fleet activity.