Overview
- - G7 foreign ministers met in Munich to coordinate on Ukraine and regional issues, with Japan stressing a Free and Open Indo‑Pacific and stronger supply‑chain resilience for critical minerals and rare earths.
- - Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte agreed that Japan‑NATO cooperation is strategically important, with plans to elevate ties through concrete defense equipment and industrial collaboration.
- - Japan and Australia confirmed they will work toward concluding early‑2026 contracts for Royal Australian Navy general‑purpose frigates, naming the upgraded Mogami‑class as the preferred platform under their defense coordination framework.
- - Motegi and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio agreed to advance tangible security cooperation to bolster alliance deterrence and to deepen economic‑security initiatives focused on critical minerals and rare earths.
- - Japan sent both its foreign and defense ministers to the Munich Security Conference to reinforce ties with European partners as China courts closer relations across Europe.