Foreign Minister Murray McCully has met with American Secretary of State John Kerry in Washington today.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully has met with US Secretary of State John Kerry (right). Photo: AFP
Mr McCully said issues related to New Zealand's presidency of the United Nations Security Council and the relationship between the two countries were discussed.
The minister said he congratulated Mr Kerry on the Iran nuclear deal, approved by the Security Council last week, marking the end of sanctions against Iran in exchange for nuclear program restrictions.
"Last week the members of the Security Council welcomed the deal, expressing the hope that it would set the scene for Iran to play a more constructive role in regional affairs, leading to progress on some of the security challenges facing the Middle East."
Mr McCully said he also reiterated the need for the Council to become more involved in the peace process.
"Secretary Kerry has been closely involved in efforts to re-establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians and New Zealand is strongly supportive of the US leadership being shown in relation to the Middle East Peace Process."
Mr McCully said they also discussed the urgent need for a political solution in Syria. The pair also talked about how to secure accountability from those responsible for the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine last year.
The minister also said he took the opportunity to emphasise the importance of securing a high-quality deal for New Zealand in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) talks, particularly for the dairy sector.