Ishiba Withdraws from NATO Meeting

2025-06-23 08:26:45

(MENAFN) Japanese Premier Shigeru Ishiba on Monday called off his planned trip to this week’s NATO leaders’ gathering after U.S. bombings of Iranian atomic facilities, a news outlet reported.

Ishiba is now the second of the four Asia-Pacific partners—Australia, South Korea, New Zealand, and Japan—invited to recent NATO meetings to step aside.

Alliance chiefs are due to assemble in The Hague, Netherlands, on Tuesday for a two-day conference.

Earlier, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung likewise opted to stay home, assigning National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac to attend in his stead. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has similarly indicated he will not be present.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry, citing "various circumstances," confirmed Ishiba’s withdrawal and said Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will represent Tokyo instead.

Separately on Monday, Tokyo rejected a report from a news agency that a planned Japan-U.S. "two-plus-two" security dialogue had been scrapped. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi insisted the meeting timetable has not yet been settled.

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