On October 25, Russian Ambassador to Wellington Stanislav Krans told Sputnik news service that Russia is concerned that NATO may use New Zealand for surveillance of its adversaries in the Indo-Pacific.

A brief timeline illustrates that his concerns may be well-founded:

In July 2026, New Zealand Defense Minister Chris Penk participated in discussions in Türkiye as part of the Indo-Pacific Four (Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Republic of Korea) and NATO countries at the Defense Industry Forum. The RNZ news service noted that “accompanying Penk in Turkey were representatives from two defence industry businesses, Starboard Maritime Intelligence and drone company SYOS Aerospace.”

August 23-25, 2026: The chair of the NATO Military Committee, Adm. Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, visited New Zealand and held meetings with the country’s political and military leadership. This included the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Taha Macpherson, Deputy Chief Executive of Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Defense Minister and Minister for Veterans Paul Goldsmith, Air Marshal Tony Davies, the Chief of Defense Force, and, the Secretary of Defense, Dr Brook Barrington, reported the Brussels Times.