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Japan currently has no plans to supply weapons to Ukraine — Cabinet

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara noted that Japan had already provided Ukraine with "support in the form of body armor, vehicles, and other equipment from the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces"

TOKYO, August 24. /TASS/. The Japanese government is currently not considering the possibility of supplying weapons to Ukraine as part of its support for Kiev, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters.

"At this time, the government is not considering the possibility of providing weapons to Ukraine," he said in response to questions about Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergey Koretsky’s earlier remarks to Japan’s Kyodo news agency that Kiev was counting on weapons supplies from Japan, including interceptor missiles for air defense systems.

At the same time, Kihara noted that Japan has already provided Ukraine with "support in the form of body armor, vehicles, and other equipment from the Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces." The Japanese chief cabinet secretary pledged that Tokyo would continue "to promote public-private support for Ukraine’s reconstruction in close cooperation with the international community in order to strengthen its socioeconomic resilience."

On April 21, the Japanese government officially approved a decision to revise the so-called Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology. The move effectively lifted restrictions on the export of Japanese weapons, including equipment classified as lethal.

Japan is expected to supply combat weapons only to countries that have signed agreements with Tokyo regarding the conditions for their use, including maintaining secrecy regarding military technologies. Japan currently has such agreements with 17 countries: the United States, the UK, Australia, India, the Philippines, France, Germany, Malaysia, Italy, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Sweden, Singapore, the UAE, Mongolia, and Bangladesh. Decisions on arms exports will be made by Japan’s National Security Council, with the participation of the head of government and several ministers. Parliament is then expected to be informed of these decisions, but it will not be required to approve such deals.

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