Japan plans to resume intergovernmental discussions on the possibility of providing or selling Ukraine weapons, including interceptor missiles for the American Patriot air defense systems. This was stated by a member of the Japanese parliament from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and former defense minister Itsunori Onodera, who was in Kyiv with a delegation. According to the politician, his visit is intended to serve as a catalyst for further discussions within the Japanese government.
Itsunori Onodera, commenting on the possibility of future deliveries, noted that Japan still has certain legal and political restrictions on arms exports. At the same time, he said he intends to initiate relevant government consultations under the leadership of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
“There are certain legal restrictions in Japan, as well as restrictions at the level of state policy. However, under the leadership of Prime Minister Takaichi, we intend to initiate intergovernmental discussions on next steps, using this visit as a catalyst,” Onodera said.
According to the lawmaker, the current visit to Ukraine is a continuation of the dialogue between the two countries that began earlier. On September 14, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Japan, Eisuke Mori, arrived in Ukraine for the first time.
In addition, last week in New York there was a leaders-level meeting between Prime Minister of Japan Sanae Takaichi and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. After that, a mission on defense strategy from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan arrived in Kyiv, which also held a meeting with Zelenskyy.
Itsunori Onodera emphasized that contacts between Japan and Ukraine are becoming more regular, and the parties plan to continue consultations on security and defense cooperation.
“I feel that we are now at a stage when the trustful relations between Japan and Ukraine are steadily strengthening. As for building these relations in the future, we plan to hold appropriate consultations with the Government of Japan following the results of the current exchange of views,” Onodera stressed.
Earlier Itsunori Onodera had already expressed interest in deepening defense cooperation between Japan and Ukraine. At the same time, no concrete decision has yet been made on transferring missiles for the Patriot to Ukraine: this is specifically about the intention to resume government discussions on such a possibility.
Previously we wrote:
- Patriot missiles could begin to be produced in Ukraine: what Zelenskyy and Trump discussed
- Ukraine wants to produce Patriot missiles itself: fears emerged in the US
- A ballistic interceptor for €1m instead of very expensive Patriot missiles: how ready is FREYJA?
- Fedorov proposed to the US an exchange: “an army of drones” in exchange for Patriot missiles for Ukraine
- Ukrainian air defense on a “starvation diet”: Ihnat reported a shortage of missiles for Patriot, NASAMS and IRIS‑T
