A foreign policy expert claims the Prime Minister's strong words on the Ukraine war will have no impact

Jacinda Ardern says the United Nations has failed to appropriately respond to the war because of the position taken by Russia in the Security Council.

In the speech at the Lowry Institute in Sydney, Ardern also noted China has a responsibility as a member of the council to take action.

But Democracy Project's Geoffrey Miller says it's mostly a lot of words - with little prospect of change at the moment.

He says Ardern talks a lot about diplomacy and needing cooperation from China - but he doesn't see meaningful steps backing up the rhetoric.