[6] Major provisions include: The Russia Sanctions Act also imposed fines and terms of imprisonment for the following offenses: Legal proceedings can be taken in response to violations that have occurred outside of New Zealand.

In addition, the Sixth Labour Government suspended high-level diplomatic contacts with Russia and introduced travel bans and export controls.

That same day, New Zealand joined 39 other states that were parties to the Rome Statute in formally referring the Ukrainian situation to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

[6] On 7 March, Ardern announced that the New Zealand Government would be introducing legislation to impose autonomous sanctions on Russia outside the framework of the United Nations.

Māori Party co-leader Rawiri Waititi supported the bill but questioned New Zealand's failure to condemn the United States' invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

National Party Member of Parliament Todd McClay supported the Bill but criticised the Government's perceived slowness in adopting autonomous sanctions legislation.

[12] During the in-committee stage, Shaw submitted fellow Green MP Golriz Ghahraman's supplementary order paper that the Bill include the amendment that the Foreign Minister "must also have regard to relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly."

O'Connor criticised the proposed amendment on the grounds that the legislation's purpose was to ensure that New Zealand's ability to impose autonomous sanctions would not be bogged down by the United Nations process.

Labour MP David Parker and Green co-leader Shaw spoke about Russian human rights abuses and economic mismanagement.

[14] On 18 March, Mahuta confirmed that 364 additional political and military targets had been added to the travel ban list as part of its first tranche of sanctions.

In addition 13 individuals and 19 entities were added to the targeted sanctions list, including the prohibition of maritime vessels, aircraft, and the freezing of assets.

[24] On 27 September, the New Zealand Government sanctioned 19 further individuals including Federal Ministers, non-permanent members of the Security Council of Russia, Putin's relatives and Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.

[26] On 21 November, the New Zealand Government sanctioned 22 members of the Russian and Belarusian elite including Putin's daughters Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, the wife and children of Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, the Central Bank of Russia's Governor Elvira Nabiullina, and the wife and son of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Mahuta stated that the sanctions had been imposed on Iran were because of its role in "supplying weapons technology to Russia causing death and injury to Ukrainian civilians.

[31][30] In early September 2022, ExportNZ chairman and Foot Science International founder Brian Boyd expressed concern that the New Zealand Government's sanctions regime lacked consistency and were targeting Russian civilians.