Nanaia Mahuta is headed to Washington for her first face-to-face meeting with US President Joe Biden.
The Foreign Minister will be part of a 'Pacific Summit', as America attempts to rebuild relations in the region.
It comes hot on the heels of her speech to the United Nations, where she used the podium to rebuke Russia.
At the United Nations the Foreign Minister delivered a waiata to the world. Minutes earlier though, Nanaia Mahuta sang a less harmonious tune when it came to world affairs.
She detailed the threat of nuclear weapons and conflict between major powers as well as taking aim at Russia after it invaded Ukraine.
"Russia's actions violate the most fundamental tenets of international law," Mahuta said.
The Minister, in place of a Prime Minister on the campaign trail, then turned to the Pacific.
"We are concerned that the order that has underpinned security and prosperity in our region in the last seven decades is increasingly frail," Mahuta said.
Minister Mahuta's statement at the UN comes amid a renewed focus from the United States on our Pacific neighbours as China works to develop its own relationships in the region.
"We do not believe recent events witnessed in other parts of the world need to become the inevitable trajectory of our blue Pacific region," Mahuta said.
One part of the Pacific is causing more concern than others - the Solomon Islands.
Last year, it signed a security pact with China as Beijing seeks influence in the region.
Then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she was "gravely concerned" about possible militarization in the Pacific. And last night the Solomons' Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare heaped praise on the superpower at the UN.
"We applaud the People's Republic of China," he said.
And he has reportedly decided against joining Pacific leaders himself at the White House this week. Australian media reports US officials have been left disappointed.
"We would encourage all Pacific countries to continue with their engagement with the Pacific Island Forum, but we acknowledge they are independent countries and they make their own decisions," Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said.
Mahuta now heads to Washington and the White House for that meeting with Pacific leaders and the US President.
A chance to confront issues like climate change and China's influence, in our part of the world.
