Japan criticises Russia over nuclear arms, will use G7 summit to call for abolition

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Moscow must accept the blame for refusing to sign an update to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Kishida’s push for global denuclearisation could be ‘too ambitious’ and could weaken him politically, analysts note

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A view of the fires at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine on August 24, 2022. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Published: 6:00pm, 29 Aug 2022Updated: 6:18pm, 29 Aug 2022

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has criticised Russia’s refusal to sign an update to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is expected to use next year’s G7 conference in Hiroshima to further promote his administration’s calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Analysts caution, however, that while such positions on both Russia and nuclear weapons are largely popular at home, the likelihood of other nations – including allies – willingly dismantling their atomic arsenals is negligible. As a result, Kishida must tread carefully and be aware that pushing forward with demands that the G7 then ignores could serve to weaken him politically.

Kishida’s bitter disappointment was clear on Saturday, when he said Moscow must accept the blame for the outcome document at the NPT review conference remaining unsigned after a month of talks.

“It is extremely regrettable that no consensus was reached due to the opposition of one country, which is Russia,” Kishida said via video link from his official residence, where he is quarantined after contracting the coronavirus.

The Russian government refused to sign the treaty on the grounds that it included references to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which Russia captured in the early stages of the invasion of Ukraine in February. The international community and atomic energy experts have expressed deep concern that ongoing fighting around the plant could lead to a nuclear disaster.

Undeterred, Kishida said progress at the New York meeting was “proof that many countries are of the view that maintaining and strengthening the NPT regime is beneficial for the whole of the international community”.

He emphasised that he was not ready to give up on a policy that, as a politician representing a constituency in Hiroshima – the target of the first atomic bomb – was close to his heart.

“I want to boost momentum in the international community towards the realisation of a world without nuclear weapons,” he said, indicating that the issue would be on the table at the G7 summit next year.