Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will not attend the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO) Summit held in The Hague this week.
Japanese media reported that Mr. Ishiba decided to cancel the trip because the meeting between NATO and the group of four countries in the Indo-Pacific (IP4) is unlikely to take place, while the possibility of a meeting with US President Donald Trump is also very low. The IP4 group includes Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
President Trump has long wanted to hold a meeting with the IP4 group at this conference. However, South Korea and Australia have also announced that their leaders will not attend the NATO summit.
On behalf of Prime Minister Ishiba, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will represent Japan at the conference.
Since 2022, after the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Japan has been invited to participate and the country's prime minister has regularly attended NATO summits.
Just three days ago, the Japanese Foreign Ministry confirmed that Ishiba would attend, with the aim of "reiterating to NATO allies and other partners that the security of the European- Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is inseparable."
In addition to attending the main conference, Mr. Ishiba also planned to hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines, but all of these plans have now been canceled.
