Press Conference by Prime Minister Kishida regarding His Upcoming Attendance at the NATO Summit and Visit to Germany

(On the significance of Prime Minister Kishida's upcoming attendance at the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Summit and his expectations for the summit outcomes; on an upcoming summit meeting with UK Prime Minister Starmer and on the fields in which Mr. Kishida aims to strengthen cooperation with Chancellor Scholz during his visit to Germany)

I am heading to Washington, DC to attend the NATO Summit, after which I will visit Germany. At the NATO Summit, where we will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of NATO, I will reaffirm with my counterparts the recognition that the security of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific are inseparable. I also intend to take this as an opportunity to solidify the relationship of continuous cooperation between NATO and its Indo-Pacific partners, including Japan.

On this occasion, I also intend to hold a face-to-face meeting with newly-elected British Prime Minister Starmer. We had a meeting over the telephone the other day, and by holding a meeting in person as soon as possible, I hope to have an exchange of views regarding such matters as concrete steps we will take with regard to the Japan-UK partnership that has been particularly close in recent years. In addition, I wish to have summit talks with NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg as well as with the Republic of Korea (ROK), the Netherlands, Sweden, and Finland. A summit meeting among Japan, the ROK, Australia, and New Zealand -- what are known as the Indo-Pacific Four (IP4) -- and a meeting of the IP4 plus President Zelenskyy of Ukraine are also on the agenda.

As for relations with Germany, where I will visit after the NATO summit, I plan to have an exchange of views with Chancellor Scholz and confirm that we will promote cooperation in the area of security, an area in which our cooperation has been making particular progress in recent years within our bilateral relations. Alongside this, with regard to the economic field, including economic security, last year, we held the first Japan-Germany Inter-Government Consultations. I also plan to discuss cooperation and the strengthening of our partnership in the economic field, grounded in the outcomes of those inter-government consultations.