U.S. Confirms Nuclear Umbrella for Japan Amid Rising Regional Tensions

The United States has confirmed its commitment to defend Japan using all of its defense capabilities, including nuclear weapons.

The U.S. Department of State announced this.

On February 18, 2026, the U.S. hosted a Japanese delegation for the Extended Deterrence Dialogue (EDD) at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C. The meeting was co-chaired by representatives from the U.S. Department of State and the Department of War, while the Japanese side was represented by officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and Ministry of Defense.

The delegations also included representatives from the Japan Joint Staff, the U.S. Joint Staff, U.S. Strategic Command, and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

The delegations agreed that U.S. nuclear policy and the deployment of U.S. nuclear forces, as well as Japan’s growing investments in its own conventional defense capabilities, play a crucial role in deterrence and, if necessary, in responding to aggression in the region.

The parties discussed China’s rapid, opaque, and destabilizing buildup of its nuclear arsenal and the corresponding tests, as well as Russia’s historic failure to fulfill its arms control commitments.

Japan welcomed the United States’ intention to reach a better agreement on nuclear arms limitation and emphasized the importance of involving not only Russia but also China in this process. The delegations also discussed the progress of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in developing its nuclear and missile programs. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearization of North Korea.

It was recently revealed that the United States is pressuring NATO countries to prevent representatives from Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, and Japan from participating in the upcoming NATO summit in Ankara this July.