Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern held a formal meeting with UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the UN in New York. Photo: Pool
After a two-year Covid-induced hiatus, the United Nations' leaders' summit returned with gusto this week, but against a far darker backdrop than Jacinda Ardern's last time there.
The general assembly has been dominated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with attention fuelled this week by Vladimir Putin's barely veiled nuclear threats and expanded war effort.
In an end-of-trip interview with RNZ, the prime minister noted the conflicted emotions among leaders in New York: pleased to have "come through" the pandemic, only to then "smack up against such significant hurdles".
"Everyone was talking in some form about issues like inflation… climate action, and the persistent security threats in Europe," Ardern told RNZ.
The mere mention of nuclear war added gravity; the conflict was "absolutely" on everyone's lips, Ardern said.
"It is a worrying time."
The prime minister's schedule this year had noticeably fewer official bilateral meetings than when she was here last in 2019.
Then, Ardern was fêted on arrival and praised for her response to the March 15 terror attack.
She was sought after by the likes of then-US President Donald Trump and then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Over three days, her 2019 programme listed a whopping 16 bilateral meetings.
Jacinda Ardern speaks during the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2019. Photo: (Photo by Johannes EISELE / AFP)
This year, she held just three: UN boss António Guterres, Ukraine prime minister Denys Shmyhal, and Chile president Gabriel Boric. The count jumps to four if you include Ardern's mid-air meeting with Canada's Justin Trudeau en route to New York.
Ardern said her time in the job meant she had now built up more "established relationships" which did not require a full half hour sit-down to make progress.
She said she could and did "get a lot done" with just brief encounters on the event's sidelines.
"I'll sit down with foreign affairs [officials] and say, 'who do we need to talk to?' and then I make a list and make a beeline."
Ardern said the Queen's funeral in London also meant some formal meetings were moved because leaders - including her - had to scramble to re-work their plans.
Certainly, it would be wrong to interpret the lighter list as a major slump in Ardern's international appeal: she easily worked the room on the UN floor and was greeted warmly by a range of leaders.
Ardern addressed those leaders early on Saturday morning (NZT) and used her speech to make clear New Zealand's condemnation of Russia.
She also issued several near impossible challenges, calling for a complete ban on nuclear weapons and the abolition of the UN veto power.
It is hard to imagine a world where the United States, let alone Russia, would agree to relinquish its nukes or veto, but Ardern insisted there had been significant progress in both areas in recent years.
"I'm never going to hold the view that just because it's hard it can't be done," she told RNZ.
"We don't need to lose sight of hope and optimism."
Even against the darkest of backdrops.