Prime Minister John Key would support a United States air strike on Iraqi insurgents - but only if the Iraq government backs it.

The Prime Minister met with US President Barack Obama in his Oval Office and said after the meeting he would back an air strike with conditions.

It would need to be a last resort, aimed at the Insurgents from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant - known as ISIL, and be at the invitation of the Iraqi government, he told The Nation this morning.

"If it was at the invitation of the Government, we certainly wouldn't condemn it.

"We accept that they are a terrorist group that are creating carnage and killing a lot of people in Iraq."

On Wednesday, Iraq asked the US to launch air strikes against ISIL who launched an insurgency over a week ago.

But Labour leader David Cunliffe says any operations should be sanctioned by the United Nations and should have the backing of a number of countries.

"It's very difficult in a very complex situation to write a blank cheque," he told The Nation.

"Whatever operations are conducted ... must be lawful, for example, because they pertain to a declared war."

Mr Key said the Iraq government will be focusing on negotiations and air strikes are unlikely to happen any time soon.

New Zealand is part of the Five Eyes intelligence sharing network, and Mr Key said it was possible intelligence gathered by New Zealand could be used to help operations in Iraq.

Mr Key has previously said New Zealand won't be sending troops.

New Zealand on Friday confirmed it would give $500,000, channelled through the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, to help people displaced by the fighting in Iraq.

Meanwhile, President Obama says he hopes to have an agreement on framing a vast pan-Pacific trading block by the time he makes his next visit to Asia in November.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would encompass 40 percent of the global economy and include 12 nations. Talks on setting up the pact have been delayed by intricate market access negotiations between Japan and the United States.

Obama says he and Prime Minister John Key discussed the latest timeline for the deal in Oval Office talks on Friday (local time), and that he hoped to have a "document" on it by the end of the year.

"My hope is that by the time we see each other again in November, when I travel to Asia, we have got something that we have consulted with Congress about, that the public can take a look at," Obama said, though he warned there was a lot of work still to be done on an agreement.

Obama is due to travel to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing, the East Asia summit in Myanmar and the G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia at the end of the year.

Chief negotiators from countries set to join the TPP are due to meet again in July.

In the last talks in Singapore in May, trade ministers agreed on an intensified timetable for talks, but could not say when a final deal might be concluded.

The negotiations have been slowed while the United States and Tokyo debate key details, including Japanese tariffs on agricultural imports and US access to Japan's auto market.

Together, the two countries make up 80 percent of the total GDP of the prospective free trade area.

Outside the United States, there are concerns Obama may struggle to win congressional backing for the deal - especially in a year in which lawmakers are facing mid-term elections in which free trade is always a divisive issue.

That is one reason why Obama rarely mentions the TPP without touting it as a significant job creating opportunity for the US economy at a time of still-high unemployment.

The 12 prospective TPP members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. 

Source: 3news.co.nz