U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Thursday the door was open for New Zealand to engage with the AUKUS weapons development and procurement project between the United States, Britain and Australia.

The multi-stage AUKUS project announced in March is planned to culminate in the late 2030s and early 2040s with British and Australian production and operation of a new submarine class – SSN-AUKUS – and include “cutting edge” U.S. technologies.

“The door’s very much open for New Zealand and other partners to engage as they see appropriate going forward,” Blinken told a news conference in Wellington.

“We’ve long worked together on the most important national security issues. And so as we further develop AUKUS, as I said, the door is open to engagement.”