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Speaker 1: Prime Minister Christopher Luxen meet with his British counterparts of

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Speaker 1: Kerestarma overnight, announcing a new agreement to deeper defense and

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Speaker 1: security ties. The UK has signed a sixty million dollar

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Speaker 1: deal with New Zealand for the supply of drones to

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Speaker 1: support Ukraine, and the pair also visited Kiwi troops training

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Speaker 1: frontline Ukrainian soldiers. Jeffrey Miller is a geopolitical analyst and

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Speaker 1: he joins me, now, thanks for your time, Jeffrey, Good morning,

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Speaker 1: franch esca. How significant is this drone deal?

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Speaker 2: Look, I think it is significant for the company and

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Speaker 2: who knew that we had a company in Mount Long

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Speaker 2: and Ui producing these kinds of drones and they do

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Speaker 2: so out of a factory near London in the southeast

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Speaker 2: of England. So those drones will be heading off to Ukraine.

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Speaker 2: So I think Christopher Luxin is very keen to emphasize

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Speaker 2: New Zealand support for Ukraine on this trip. There's a

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Speaker 2: major meeting in London, I believe today with issues from Europe,

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Speaker 2: the US and Ukraine. Nothing out some of the details

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Speaker 2: of peace proposal that will then be put to Russia,

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Speaker 2: and that could include Ukraine's recognition of Crimera as Russian

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Speaker 2: territory or international recognition of Crimeras as Russian territory, which

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Speaker 2: would be a very very significant concession by Ukraine to

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Speaker 2: make and buy its Western partners. So I think Ukraine

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Speaker 2: really is front and center of the agenda at the moment.

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Speaker 1: Will you create, sorry, will Luxon get much of a

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Speaker 1: voice in these geopolitical moves or will he just be

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Speaker 1: doing what the big dogs tell him.

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Speaker 2: I think you'll be keen to put New Zealand's perspective

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Speaker 2: on all of these matters. In the end. That is

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Speaker 2: Christopher Luxen's job as New Zealand Prime minister. I think

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Speaker 2: really does say he should be very mindful about others

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Speaker 2: who are watching. I think it's very easy for New

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Speaker 2: Zealand prime ministers to go to Number ten or go

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Speaker 2: to the White House, etc. And be quite starstruck about

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Speaker 2: where they are and then agree to things that or

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Speaker 2: say things that really are more the view of their partners.

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Speaker 2: In this case, Kiirstarma, I think Crystal election should be

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Speaker 2: well that China in particular will be watching what Christopher

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Speaker 2: Luxen says on all things defense. Christopher Luxeen may well

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Speaker 2: be keen to hype up some of the hawkish rhetoric,

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Speaker 2: given that New Zealand put out that quite strong defense

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Speaker 2: capability plan a couple of weeks ago. But I think

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Speaker 2: China will see some of that has aimed very much

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Speaker 2: at it. Whenever the talk goes about the Endo Pacific,

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Speaker 2: I think China feels targeted. And Christopher Luxen is visiting London,

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Speaker 2: his visits in many capitals now, he still hasn't made

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Speaker 2: a visit to Beijing, so I think Luxan needs to

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Speaker 2: be careful about what he says and to make sure

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Speaker 2: that there's very much in line with New Zealand's interests.

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Speaker 1: Will the UK appreciate the ongoing support from New Zealand

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Speaker 1: and training Ukraine soldiers.

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Speaker 2: No doubt. I mean the United Kingdom and in Europe generally,

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Speaker 2: Ukraine has so much the focus at the moment, while

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Speaker 2: New Zealand is in a very different part of the

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Speaker 2: world and has a wider view. Perhaps or we're more

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Speaker 2: focused on the Asia Pacific or Into Pacific as it's

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Speaker 2: often called now as well as Ukraine. If you're in Europe,

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Speaker 2: Ukraine really is the centerpiece. So I think that's really

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Speaker 2: why Ukraine is a big part of the agenda. But

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Speaker 2: train of course is also going to be a big

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Speaker 2: part of the talks. We're approaching Donald Trump's first one

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Speaker 2: hundred days in office, and it's been a whirl win

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Speaker 2: one hundred days, and those tariffs that were announced on

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Speaker 2: Liberation Day, as Trump called it, I have only been suspended.

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Speaker 2: They haven't been canceled. There's only a ninety day Postponeman.

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Speaker 2: So I think Starma and LUXELM will be really discussing

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Speaker 2: about where to from here, what's the game plan. And

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Speaker 2: again I think Lux needs to be careful when he

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Speaker 2: comes up with his proposals. We put out that proposal

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Speaker 2: a couple of weeks ago that the CPTPP could work

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Speaker 2: with the EU, the United Kingdom's already in the CPTPP

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Speaker 2: or the Transpacific Partnership. I think he needs to Lux

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Speaker 2: needs to be careful here because again China will be watching.

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Speaker 2: China has already applied to join the CPTPP, and China

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Speaker 2: is the main target of Donald Trump's tariffs of up

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Speaker 2: to two hundred and forty five percent now and they

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Speaker 2: haven't been suspended. So I think when you're there, you

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Speaker 2: should be probably showing some level of solidarity with China,

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Speaker 2: which is after all New Zealand's biggest trading partner, and

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Speaker 2: talks of just bringing the EU into the CPTPP I

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Speaker 2: think are a little bit premature, and the EU is

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Speaker 2: not particularly supportive of true free trade, so there'll be

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Speaker 2: a lot to talk about, no doubt, and that meeting

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Speaker 2: I believe has been happening over the last few hours

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Speaker 2: start in New UK time, Jeffrey.

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Speaker 1: We've got a lot of world leaders converging at the

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Speaker 1: Pope's funeral. Should Luxon be there, I think.

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Speaker 2: You showed I mean, certainly if he's over already in

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Speaker 2: the United Kingdom, he's heading to Turkey for Anzac Day.

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Speaker 2: It seems that the stars are aligned in a way

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Speaker 2: with the sad passing of the Pope's death, and it

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Speaker 2: would be easy for Luxelan to head back to Rome

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Speaker 2: for the fun before heading back to New Zealand. I

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Speaker 2: don't know whether that's been confirmed yet. You would surely

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Speaker 2: think that luck would take that option if it's available,

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Speaker 2: because of the sideline opportunities, And as your correspondent was mentioning,

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Speaker 2: there's going to be a big parade of world leaders

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Speaker 2: there from across Europe and further afield, including Trump himself,

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Speaker 2: including Vladimer Zelenski and Manual M. Kran All manner of

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Speaker 2: leaders are going to be there, so it would be

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Speaker 2: a good opportunity for some sideline conversations, much in the

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Speaker 2: same way that the Queen's funeral brought together a lot

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Speaker 2: of world leaders back in twenty twenty two.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, thank you Jeffrey Miller. Thank you very much for

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Speaker 1: your time this morning. Appreciate it. For more from early

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Speaker 1: edition with Ryan Bridge, listen live to news Talks it'd

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