According to the Japanese 'Mainichi Shimbun', Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga decided not to attend the NATO summit held in Turkey from July 7th to 8th. Foreign Minister Motegi Toshihiro will be sent as a representative to attend the event.
According to reports, this is because U.S. President Donald Trump does not pay much attention to NATO. Additionally, the summits that Trump attended earlier with leaders from Japan, South Korea, and Australia have been cancelled. This is the second time that Japanese Prime Minister Abe has missed a NATO summit.
In June 2022, then-Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became the first Japanese prime minister to attend this summit. By 2024, he had attended the summit three times in a row.
According to reports, Turkey, as the host country, also invited Gao. However, Gao decided not to attend, due to reasons including the expectation that it would be impossible to meet with Trump.
Momoto Toshifumi will meet with the Secretary-General of NATO and others, and is arranging talks with US Secretary of State Rubio. Japanese Defense Minister Shinzo Abe will also attend the NATO Defense Ministers' Meeting.
A senior official from the Japanese Foreign Affairs Ministry explained, "It is regrettable that a meeting with Trump could not be arranged. Japan and NATO will continue to cooperate in areas such as space and cyber defense."
