Putin, Trump just gave Japan more reasons to go nuclear
No longer sure of US protection and surrounded by three tough neighbours, Tokyo is running out of easy options.
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Russian leader Vladimir Putin visiting a fish processing plant on Iturup, one of the islands that Japan also claims as its territory.
PHOTO: REUTERS
In global diplomacy you need to be careful about what you wish for, lest you end up getting it and at a moment most inconvenient to you. Just ask Japan.
For years, and particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Tokyo has pushed for a conceptual fusing of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security theatres, driven by its wariness of Beijing. Japan strengthened this call in 2022 when then Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made history by attending a NATO summit, building on moves by his predecessor Shinzo Abe.
