New Zealand Prime Minister Hipkins confirmed that the country would not participate in AUKUS.
New Zealand’s policy of non-participation in the AUKUS alliance has not changed since the new Prime Minister came to power. This was stated by the head of the New Zealand Cabinet Chris Hipkins, who arrived on his first working visit to Australia.
He stressed that Wellington remains committed to a nuclear-free future.
“Australia, the U.S. and Britain are important security partners for New Zealand, but our nuclear-free policy will remain unchanged,” Hipkins stressed.
Previously, New Zealand Foreign Minister Nanaya Mahuta reported the country’s interest in cooperating with AUKUS on cybersecurity projects, but “does not seek to be part of the alliance.” The partnership’s tasks to share technology for building nuclear submarines were also, as indicated, “not of interest to New Zealand.
The trilateral defense alliance AUKUS was formed in September 2021. It included the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.
In November 2022, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the AUKUS bloc is trying to lure Canada, Japan, and New Zealand into the alliance, and the members themselves are doing so.
source: ren
