New Zealand’s government is reviewing its aid to Kiribati after the Pacific island nation’s leader snubbed a planned meeting with New Zealand’s foreign minister

New Zealand is reevaluating its development funding to Kiribati following a diplomatic incident where Kiribati President Taneti Maamau canceled a meeting with New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters.

The visit by New Zealand's foreign minister "was cancelled by NZ itself" but blame is falling on Kiribati's president, a Cabinet minister in Taaneti Maamau's government says.

The New Zealand government said it is reviewing its development aid programme with the Pacific nation of Kiribati after the country's president cancelled a meeting with New Zealand’s foreign minister earlier in January.

New Zealand is reviewing its aid to Kiribati after the tiny Pacific nation’s president canceled a meeting with Foreign Minister Winston Peters at short notice.

Foreign Minister Winston Peters has confirmed New Zealand's aid for Kiribati is being reviewed after its President and Foreign Minister cancelled a meeting with him.

The unusual move to review all finance to Kiribati was prompted by the abrupt cancelation of a planned meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday last week between Kiribati President Taneti Maamau and New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Winston Peters, Peters’ office said late on Monday.

The New Zealand government is reconsidering its aid program with Kiribati after the president canceled a planned meeting with the New Zealand foreign minister. This development may strain relations and impact both bilateral ties and visa allocations for Kiribati citizens seeking seasonal work in New Zealand.

Kiribati President Taneti Maamau is on a state visit to Fiji from today until Thursday. In the spirit of Pacific Vuvale, Fiji will be officially welcoming the President tomorrow.

Kiribati is one of the world's most aid-dependent countries, but relations with Western nations have grown tense since it aligned with China in 2019

Kiribati has defended its last-minute decision to call off a meeting between President Taneti Maamau, Foreign Minister Taneti Maamau and Foreign Minister Winston Peters, a snub that prompted New Zealand to put its aid for Kiribati under review.

The IMF, with the World Bank, is also calling on Kiribati to ensure the money from the sovereign fund goes towards high-quality development funding and not to support the copra subsidy, unemployment benefits or leave grants for the private sector, which it says should all be covered by recurrent spending.