A Marshall Islands cabinet minister says the New Zealand Prime Minister did not seem connected in a meaningful way to events of this month's Pacific Islands Forum.
The Minister in assistance to the President of the Marshall Islands, Tony de Brum, is pointing to comments made by John Key relating to climate change committments and nuclear issues with the United States.
He says they respect the New Zealand government, but some of Mr Key's comments, including about the Majuro Declaration on climate change, indicate a disconnect from the process of the forum.
"Comments from the Prime Minister, for example, that the United States is not going to sign on, after hearing the [US] secretary of interior announce her satisfaction with the declaration seemed odd, to say the least. The United States has pledged to sign on, as I've said, and that should also give New Zealand incentive to do so."
Tony de Brum says John Key's comment about the Marshall Islands' nuclear issues with the United States being a bilateral matter was not good form.
