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New Zealand foreign minister Murray McCully today said he hopes to meet Fiji's Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama at next month’s Hong Kong rugby sevens tournament for informal talks.
McCully told the New Zealand parliament that “if logically possible” - the two would meet at the rugby tourney, which the Fijian national 7s team would be defending starting March 26.
McCully was in Fiji over the weekend in meetings with his Fijian counterpart, Ratu Inoke Kabuabola.
An outcome was both countries restaff their diplomatic missions, but no decision was reached on travel bans imposed by New Zealand.
McCully said the renewed contact with the Fiji government did not signal any change in New Zealand's policy.
"I want to reiterate today what I have stated on previous occasions - that our engagement with the Fijian administration does not signal a change of policy, or a change to the sanctions regime," he said.
"I hope that we will, as a result of this dialogue, be able to consider changes to the sanctions regime at some point in the future.
"That will require that we make progress on some of the important and difficult matters over which we currently disagree."
