The two countries said they would hold regular high-level dialogue and co-operate on maritime security, counter-terrorism, and peacekeeping operations, paving the way to closer military ties between Washington and Wellington.

"This high-level arrangement recognises the significant security co-operation that exists between New Zealand and the US within the context of our independent foreign policy, and seeks to build upon that co-operation in the years ahead," New Zealand Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman said.

The latest agreement, dubbed the Washington Declaration, follows the 2010 Wellington Declaration, which opened the door to renewed US-New Zealand defence links breached in the mid-1980s when New Zealand declared itself nuclear-free.

Washington lifted its ban on military links between the two countries, resulting in US Marines training in New Zealand and ships from the two navies holding exercises earlier this year, the first in two decades.