AP: Japan may join NATO mission to support Ukraine

Japan has expressed interest in participating in the command of the NATO military support mission to Ukraine.

The Associated Press reported on this.

Japan’s Defense Minister Gen Nakatani announced his country’s interest during talks with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in Tokyo on Tuesday, April 8.

The mission, called NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), is headquartered at the U.S. military base in Wiesbaden, Germany.

The details of the mission, including the possibility of sending any members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces to Wiesbaden, have yet to be discussed.

However, Japanese cooperation will not include participation in combat operations, as Tokyo has limited the role of its military since World War II.

Nakatani stated that Japan wants to further deepen security cooperation with NATO and that participation in the NSATU mission will help Tokyo learn lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Both Japan and NATO are facing many challenges, and our security environment is becoming increasingly more stringent,” Nakatani said.

Japan noted that the Russia-Ukraine war demonstrates that security risks in Europe and Asia are inseparable, and Tokyo is seeking closer ties with the Alliance. The island nation also seeks to join the United States in expanding defense ties with other friendly countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Threats to Japan

Rutte told Nakatani that China, North Korea, and Russia are stepping up their military exercises and cooperation, “undermining global security, because whatever happens in Euro-Atlantic issues also affects the Indo-Pacific region.”

Japan considers China a threat in the region and has accelerated its military buildup in recent years, including the acquisition of long-range cruise missiles.

At the end of last month, two Ukrainian Armed Forces soldiers arrived in Japan to undergo rehabilitation and prosthetics at the hospital of the National Military Medical College of the Ministry of Defense. They will stay in the country for about 3 months.