Japanese PM discards idea of sharing US nuclear weapons under NATO

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Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida brushed off the possibility of the United States sharing nuclear technology as contrary to the country's non-nuclear principles.

Shinzo Abe, Japan's former prime minister, told the Fuji broadcaster last weekend that Tokyo should not "set a taboo on discussing the reality of how the world is protected," citing NATO's nuclear sharing concept, in which US nuclear weapons are deployed in some NATO member countries most notably Germany and Italy.

Meanwhile, Abe recollected that the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had been bombed with atomic bombs and emphasized the importance of pursuing the total abolition of nuclear weapons.

Wang Wenbin, a #Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, told reporters in #Beijing: “#Japanese politicians have frequently spread fallacies related to #Taiwan and even blatantly made false remarks that violate the nation’s three non-nuclear principles." pic.twitter.com/gDSqiOby2S

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) March 1, 2022

At a parliamentary budget committee hearing, Kishida said that “It was not a matter of possessing, but of sharing nuclear weapons. Sharing nuclear weapons would mean delivering US nuclear weapons to our territory and, in case of contingency, placing them on our fighters and maintaining their functioning." 

At the time, Kishida referred to Japan's 1970s policy of three non-nuclear principles, which include nonproduction, nonpossession, and nonintroduction of nuclear weapons on the country's territory.

"If the joint use of US nuclear deterrence for defense purposes signifies this, then from the standpoint of strict adherence to the three non-nuclear principles as well as the peaceful use of nuclear energy, it is difficult for the government to accept this," Kishida stressed.

Only the United States provides weapons for nuclear sharing among the three NATO nuclear powers: France, the United Kingdom, and the United States. As a result, US nuclear weapons are currently deployed in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

US nuclear weapons in Europe is intolerable for Moscow

On his account, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov commented on this issue, on Tuesday, by saying that the deployment of US nuclear weapons in Europe is intolerable for Moscow.

Lavrov claimed that, given the current scenario, it is critical to avoid a new round of the arms race, and that Russia is calling on the US and its allies to join a moratorium on the deployment of short- and intermediate-range missiles in Europe.

During a video conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Lavrov said "It is unacceptable for us that, contrary to the fundamental principles of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, US nuclear weapons are still present on the territory of some European countries."

Lavrov also chastised the practice of non-nuclear NATO nations participating in "joint nuclear missions," which he claims include scenarios of nuclear weapon use against Russia.

He added that it is "high time the US nuclear weapons are returned home, and the infrastructure in Europe related to them be completely dismantled."

Russia will do all possible to keep Ukraine from obtaining nuclear weapons,  Lavrov concluded.