Russia-Japan Nuclear Disarmament Agreement Has Ceased to Operate

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced the suspension of the cooperation agreement on nuclear disarmament with Japan. The relevant document has appeared on the official portal of legal acts. It is noted that the agreement, signed in Tokyo in the autumn of 1993, has ceased to operate as of May 21, 2024.

This agreement regulated Russian-Japanese cooperation in the field of the elimination of nuclear weapons subject to reduction and provided for the establishment of a special committee to oversee this process and facilitate the exchange of information.

On March 25, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia would deploy its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus at the 'request of the Belarusian side,' similar to what the United States has long done in the territories of its allies.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno stated that as the only country to have suffered from nuclear bombings, Japan finds the threat of nuclear weapons unacceptable. He noted that the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus would increase tensions surrounding the Ukrainian conflict.