Winston Peters has met "informally" with Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown at Peters' home in Auckland.
Four days ago, Peters' office said they had no plans to meet Brown while he was in New Zealand.
In a joint statement, they said they discussed "fundamental challenges facing the New Zealand-Cook Islands relationship over the past 18 months", although there appeared to be no resolutions.
"Political dialogue between the two countries will continue in the coming weeks in order to determine whether these challenges can be resolved in the present circumstances," it stated.
"In the meantime, the governments of the Cook Islands and New Zealand will not be providing further comment."
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Thursday that he would not meet with Brown in any capacity, preferring to keep it between officials.
"I'm confident we'll get to a good place in the end, we've made some good progress recently, but I'm going to let our officials handle that progress," he said.
Addressing a room of dignitaries on Wednesday, Brown said his country was "growing in influence" globally on its "voyage of statehood".
"Our desire to pursue our own policies and interests have been reflected in our growing participation on the international stage," Brown told a room of dignitaries.
"There are times when we must pause and consider whether the conventions and evolved understanding between our freely associated states remain aligned... we find ourselves in such a moment."
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