"Australia’s arrangement with the US and the UK is primarily around technology and defence hardware, with the centrepiece being the purchase of nuclear submarines by Australia," Ardern said.
She said this new group "in no way changes our security and intelligence ties with these three countries, as well as Canada". New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States are members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing network.
"New Zealand is first and foremost a nation of the Pacific and we view foreign policy developments through the lens of what is in the best interest of the region," Ardern said.
"We welcome the increased engagement of the UK and US in the region and reiterate our collective objective needs to be the delivery of peace and stability and the preservation of the international rules based system.
