Press Conference by Prime Minister Kishida on His Reaction to the Outcome of the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and Other Matters

(On the Prime Minister's reaction to the outcome of the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT))

The Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) being held in New York has just concluded, and I have been briefed in detail from staff from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including those who have been working there at the conference. An outcome document was unable to be adopted at this NPT Review Conference because of the opposition of a single country, Russia. From the first, Russian aggression against Ukraine has been undermining the foundation of the international order and that aggression is absolutely intolerable. In addition, it is extremely regrettable that consensus could not be reached because of the opposition of a single country, Russia.

At the previous NPT Review Conference in 2015, I found it extremely frustrating that the outcome document could not be adopted. The environment surrounding this year's Review Conference was also extremely severe and prospects for the adoption of the outcome document were certainly not bright.
Against that background, holding the strong conviction that the NPT is the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and maintaining and strengthening just such an NPT is the one and only realistic path towards a world without nuclear weapons, I personally attended the NPT Review Conference as the first Japanese prime minister to do so, and there I announced the "Hiroshima Action Plan."

Even after that, we continued making every possible effort right until the very end to get the consensus document adopted, working actively with both Mr. Zlauvinen, President of the Review Conference, and the national delegations, and also dispatching Mr. Takei, State Minister for Foreign Affairs, so that this Conference would achieve significant success. Despite this, this all ended in the outcome I mentioned earlier, which I find extremely regrettable.

At the same time, at this Review Conference the only country opposed to adoption of the final outcome document by consensus was Russia. This is proof that many countries share the recognition that maintaining and strengthening the NPT, which is the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, is in the interests of the entire international community.

And, based on this recognition, decisions were taken to hold the next Review Conference in 2026 and to establish a working group that will discuss the nature of the review process going forward. It is the first time for this working group to be established and I commend it. The working group on how to strengthen the review process was launched through the leadership of Japan and Australia and is based on the proposal by the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) that I myself participated in actively during my tenure as Foreign Minister. Japan intends to contribute actively to discussions leading up to the next NPT Review Conference, including those in this working group, with a view to maintaining and strengthening the NPT process.

Also, Japan's statements, including the Hiroshima Action Plan, received support from a large number of countries, and we heard voices of support and commendation from many countries through this Review Conference.

The Joint Statement on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation Education that Japan submitted received the support of 88 countries, the highest number ever, and a large number of Japan's views and proposals were incorporated into the draft of the final outcome document, such as the importance of continuing not to use nuclear weapons and the importance of maintaining the trend towards reducing the number of nuclear weapons globally. This is a significant achievement for Japan and I consider it to comprise one part of the foundation on which the international community will in the future advance realistic discussions towards nuclear disarmament. 

Japan will continue to press forward with realistic efforts in line with the Hiroshima Action Plan, holding the conviction that maintaining and strengthening the NPT is the only realistic effort in working towards nuclear disarmament. Next month a meeting of the Friends of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) will convene at the summit level, and in November, we are scheduled to convene a meeting of the International Group of Eminent Persons. With the G7 Hiroshima Summit firmly in view, I intend to increase the momentum of the international community towards realizing a world without nuclear weapons. We will tenaciously and steadily advance realistic efforts step by step, intensifying the international community's momentum towards materializing a world without nuclear weapons.

(On future efforts towards a world without nuclear weapons, in light of Russia's opposition)

There is no change in our thinking from what I have been stating, namely that in order to change our reality, we must change the countries that actually have nuclear arms.

Russia opposed the consensus agreement at this Review Conference, but the other states holding nuclear weapons did not oppose the agreement this time. Mindful of this reaction by the nuclear weapon states, I feel very strongly that the importance of the NPT framework remains unchanged.

The divide within the international community has deepened further, making the security environment a complex situation. From the very beginning, the environment surrounding this year's Review Conference was also quite severe, with prospects for the adoption of the outcome document not being bright at all.
The fact is that the negotiations were not easy ones. It is not trivial in any way that through the discussions at this Review Conference, many countries are keenly aware that maintaining and strengthening the NPT, the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, is in the interests of the entire international community, and the confirmation of this was also quite significant.

I would like to emphasize strongly that responsibility for not being able to gain consensus at this Review Conference should rest squarely with Russia; it is not a problem with the NPT regime itself. In any event, grounded in the conviction that continuing to maintain and strengthen the NPT is the only realistic effort in working towards nuclear disarmament, Japan intends to advance efforts in accordance with the Hiroshima Action Plan with a historical sense of mission as the only country to have ever suffered the devastation of atomic bombings during wartime.

(On responses to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in light of the outcome of the NPT Review Conference)

As I said just now, currently, there is no change whatsoever to our thinking that it is maintaining and strengthening the NPT regime that is the realistic path forward. Japan very much intends to continue to make efforts so that it is able to work reliably towards the success of such endeavors as the upcoming Friends of the CTBT meeting, the International Group of Eminent Persons meeting, and the G7 Hiroshima Summit.

With regard to the NPT regime being the cornerstone of international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation efforts and also with regard to the importance of the NPT regime, although unfortunately the recent Review Conference did not end with an outcome document, through the discussions that took place there, we once again feel the importance of the NPT regime very keenly. Taking that view as our foundation, from now we intend to continue the efforts I mentioned just now.