Report: Japan Prime Minister Kishida May Attend NATO Summit

Multiple Japanese media outlets reported on Thursday that conservative Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is making arrangements to attend the scheduled NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.

Kishida ruled out joining NATO as a full member in remarks on Wednesday. Senior Japanese officials have suggested that Kishida is open to allowing NATO to establish a liaison office in the country, but Kishida himself claimed this week no such plans have been completed.

Japan is an informal NATO partner and, under Kishida, has become increasingly involved in Eurasian security affairs, particularly in support of Ukraine against the ongoing Russian invasion of its territory. Japan is the only other country on the planet in a state of war with Russia – the countries did not sign a peace treaty following the end of World War II hostilities – and Japanese officials have expressed concern that a successful Russian invasion of Ukraine would embolden China to similarly antagonize its neighbors.

Shortly before his assassination last year, Kishida’s predecessor and mentor, former Prime Minister Abe Shinzo, warned that the Russian invasion could prompt China to similarly attack the nation of Taiwan.

“The human tragedy that has befallen Ukraine has taught us a bitter lesson. There must no longer be any room for doubt in our resolve concerning Taiwan,” Abe wrote, “and in our determination to defend freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law.”

While maintaining these public concerns, Japan still relies on Russia for much of its energy supply and reports claimed in April that Tokyo was violating the $60 per barrel price cap the G7 had agreed to for Russian oil purchases.

Kishida visited Ukraine in March and invited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to last week’s G7 summit in Hiroshima.

China has responded with bombast to Kishida’s overtures to NATO and warned that Japan could soon become “the Ukraine of Asia.”

Japan’s NHK news agency reported on Thursday that the Japanese government is in the logistics stages of preparing for Kishida’s attendance at the Lithuania summit, citing unnamed “government sources.”

“In Lithuania, Kishida hopes to show Japan’s willingness to make continued contributions in addressing the Ukraine issue,” NHK claimed. “Kishida wants to deepen collaboration with NATO because Russia and China look to be strengthening their cooperation. He is expected to stress Japan’s standpoint that the security of Europe and that of the Indo-Pacific region are inseparable.”

Japan’s Kyodo News similarly reported, also citing Japanese “government sources,” that Kishida was planning on attending the NATO gathering. Kyodo claimed that Kishida was interested in discussing the potential NATO liaison office in Japan and expanding cooperation with the military alliance, rather than emphasizing any potential discussions on Ukraine. Kyodo also reported that Kishida was interested in discussing formalizing Japan’s relationship with the alliance in talks with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg through a document known as the “Individually Tailored Partnership Program.”

“At the summit in Spain last year, Kishida expressed eagerness to update a partnership document with NATO to boost cooperation, as the Western military alliance now views Japan as a partner nation,” Kyodo reported.

Kishida’s appearance at last year’s NATO summit was the first ever for a Japanese prime minister. While he has bolstered ties to the alliance, Kishida reportedly told Japan’s Diet, the national legislature, on Wednesday that he did not plan to attempt to join NATO and was “not aware of any decision made” regarding a liaison office in Tokyo.

Kishida has, however, visibly elevated Japan’s relationship with Ukraine, currently at the heart of NATO activities. Ukraine is not a NATO member, but many members of the alliance are sending Kyiv military or humanitarian aid and have expressed concern regarding growing Russian belligerence in Europe.

Ukraine has for years lobbied for membership in NATO, a controversial request NATO countries have entertained but not addressed with any concrete action. Leftist American President Joe Biden, whose son Hunter has for years been plagued by allegations of corrupt activity in the country, asserted in 2021 that Kyiv had to “clean up corruption” for America to take its potential NATO membership seriously. Biden made the remark after Zelensky bizarrely declared on Twitter that NATO had “confirmed” Ukraine would join its alliance, baffling NATO leadership.

“NATO allies have agreed that Ukraine will become a member of our alliance, but at the same time that is a long-term perspective,” Stoltenberg said in February during a visit to Finland. Unlike Ukraine, Finland requested NATO membership and rapidly received it in April.

Stoltenberg invited Zelensky to July’s summit, where he will potentially have an opportunity to meet Kishida in person for a third time this year. Zelensky attended the G7 summit this weekend at Kishida’s invitation, traveling the furthest from Ukraine he has since the Russian “special operation” to oust him began in February 2022. Prior to that month, Russia had been formally colonizing or informally aiding separatist forces in Ukraine since at least 2014.

Zelensky and Kishida first met in person in 2023 in Kyiv, where the Japanese prime minister appeared for a surprise visit in March. According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, Kishida made the journey to “show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their homeland under President Zelenskyy’s leadership and show solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7.” Kishida timed his visit to coincide with Chinese dictator Xi Jinping’s appearance in Russia.

Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter.