New Zealand says new NATO partnership to be concluded in ‘coming months’

WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand is committed to working more closely with NATO partners to support collective security and expects to conclude negotiations on its partnership agreement with NATO in the “coming months,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said on Friday.

“New Zealand is committed to working together with NATO partners to contribute to collective security, such as through our support for Ukraine’s self-defence,” Peters said after attending the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs meeting in Brussels on April 3-4.

New Zealand has been negotiating a new type of partnership with NATO as the alliance shifts all its partnership arrangements to a new model called an Individually Tailored Partnership Programme.

“We expect to conclude this partnership in the coming months, agreeing tangible areas of cooperation,” Peters said.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Sandra Maler)