New Zealand has announced its willingness to cooperate with AUKUS

New Zealand's foreign minister, Nanaiya Mahuta, said the country does not intend to become part of the AUKUS military alliance, which includes the United States, Great Britain and Australia, but is ready to cooperate with the union. According to her, the government in Wellington wants to participate in cyber security projects, according to the Russian news agency TASS.

,,The AUKUS agreements are not in the focus of New Zealand, we are not a party to them, nor have we had any interest, but if there is a possibility of cooperation, for example in the field of energy security in the region, we are open to dialogue’’, said the minister .

Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the trilateral alliance wanted to attract new members, a cause for concern for the Kremlin.

,,One of the concrete manifestations of such a line (regarding the development and militarization of the Asia-Pacific region by NATO and the United States) was the creation of the AUKUS military bloc, which is active now and is trying to lure New Zealand, Canada and Japan’’, Lavrov said.

In September 2021, Canberra launched the AUKUS defense partnership with Washington and London. The main purpose of the alliance was to support and protect the common interests of the parties in the Indo-Pacific region, but also to counter the rise of China in the military sphere. Under the pact, the United States and Great Britain decided to support Australia with technology to develop its own nuclear submarines.