Foreign Affairs Minister Winston
Peters says the United States will not make any decisions on
aid funding for the Pacific region until
mid-April.
Peters has met with acting head of US
Agency for International Development (USID) Peter Marocco
and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
On his
sit-down with Marocco, Peters said the pair had a “frank and
open” discussion about a range of topics, including changes
to aid programmes under the second Trump
administration.
“The decisions on that are being
made about mid-April and we’ll have to wait until then, but
they get our point of view as to how essential it is in the
blue continent, or the Pacific so to speak, and what our
collective role should be in it.”
Peters said he told
Marocco what parts of America’s existing aid funding in the
Pacific region were “very, very critical”.
“We
understood why there was an aid review – we engaged in an
aid review ourselves – however the essentiality of the very,
very, very detailed and forward-leaning programme going in
the future was a critical part of our discussion. Its shape
and form, though, depends upon their decisions by
April.”
Speaking to his meeting with Waltz, Peters
said it had been a long one.
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“It was an excellent
meeting. We came away very, very, very pleased with the
outcome, but of course its details I have to report first to
the government back in New Zealand, my Cabinet
colleagues.
“In our business it’s wise to find out the
results before you open your mouth, but we are looking ahead
with more confidence than when we
arrived.”
The Minister met the National
Security Advisor of the United States, Mike Waltz, and his
National Security Council team at the White House
today.They discussed the strategic partnership
between NZ & the United States, recent developments in
the Indo-Pacific, and our shared… pic.twitter.com/FsrDczbE5z—
Winston Peters (@NewZealandMFA) March
17, 2025
Peters said Marocco
communicated America’s expectations of New Zealand in the
meeting, but would not divulge any details.
“I can
tell you when I’ve told my Cabinet colleagues.”
Peters
was asked if he could give any assurances New Zealand would
have a positive relationship with the United States going
forward, in light of its fractured
relationship with Canada.
“I’d love to give those
assurances, but that would be premature. We were here to
build those assurances into the future, and that’s where we
hope to be going now.”
Peters will meet Secretary of
State Marco Rubio on Tuesday (US time, Wednesday NZ
time).
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