Tag - nato

 
 

NATO

People visit the graves of Russian service members killed during Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine at a cemetery on the outskirts of Donetsk, a Russian-controlled city in eastern Ukraine, on April 19.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2026
Putin’s ‘special military operation’ is a catastrophic failure
Russia’s murderous assault on Ukraine is Europe’s longest and bloodiest war of the 21st century.
Yasukazu Hamada (center) speaks at a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Security on Wednesday at the party's headquarters in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2026
Japan’s ruling LDP may consider spending up to 5% of GDP on security
A further increase in security spending is among issues set to be discussed as part of a plan to revise Japan’s three key security-related documents this year.
European leaders gather for a picture at the B9 summit in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2026
Russian airspace breaches show need to boost NATO eastern flank air defense, leaders say
The meeting aims to find ways to mend a widening rift between U.S. President Donald Trump and Europe over the Iran crisis.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the Iran war at the White House last month.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 9, 2026
Trump’s feuds and tensions with allies likely to outlast Iran war
Allies from Europe to the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific are once again fearful that the U.S. might be unreliable in a future crisis.
The presidents of Ukraine and France, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hold a news conference after signing a declaration on deploying a post-ceasefire force in Ukraine during the Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris on Jan. 6. 
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2026
The EU needs new security partners
Closer security partnerships with a wider range of states will increasingly become a source of power, allowing Europe to defend its interests wherever they are at stake.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte walks into the White House, as seen through a fence, in Washington on April 8.
WORLD / Politics
May 5, 2026
Trump’s Germany troop cuts show limits of NATO efforts to keep U.S. on board
European diplomats say they fear Trump may make further moves that could test the alliance before a summit of its 32 national leaders in Ankara in July.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney arrives to attend the eighth European Political Community summit in Armenia on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 5, 2026
U.S. allies look to Europe to build a post-Trump global order
Some nations are warning that that the system of security and trade championed by Western powers for more than 70 years is broken beyond repair.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers a speech during an official visit to Turkey, in Ankara on April 22.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2026
NATO chief says Trump disappointed in Europe over Iran response
The U.S. president had accused European countries of ignoring his requests to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran.
Soldiers during an exercise at the the U.S. Army's training facilities in Hohenfels, Germany, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2026
Trump threatens deeper cuts for U.S. troop presence in Germany
Trump has grown increasingly frustrated with European nations, accusing them of ignoring his requests for help in the U.S. war with Iran and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump leaves a press conference at a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands on June 25, 2025.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2026
Bruised by Trump, NATO alliance considers end to annual summits
Trump has engaged repeatedly in scathing criticism of many of NATO members, most recently for not providing more assistance to U.S. military with Iran.
A couple views a vandalized poster of outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest on April 13, one day after Hungary's general elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2026
Hungary’s shift unlocks new opportunities for NATO and Ukraine
Ukraine. By the time of his rejection by the electorate, he was widely regarded as Putin’s top ally in Europe and a Trojan horse inside the alliance.
Commander of the Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment, Maj. Gen. Toshikatsu Musha, and commander of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Amphibious and Mine Warfare Force, Rear Adm. Ikeuchi Izuru, attend the opening ceremony of the U.S.-Philippines Balikatan joint military exercises, in Quezon City, Metro Manila, on April 20.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2026
Beyond the hub-and-spoke: Japan quietly emerges as a secondary connector
Tokyo is positioning itself as a strategic hub for middle-power security diplomacy that reinforces the U.S.-led order while diversifying its own security partnerships.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez during a summit on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, last October.
WORLD
Apr 25, 2026
Pentagon email floats suspending Spain from NATO, other steps over Iran rift
The message also proposes reviewing the U.S. position on Britain’s claim to the Falkland Islands, an American official said.
A mock model of an upgraded Type-12 missile made by Japan is displayed during the DSEI Japan security show at Makuhari Messe in the city of Chiba in May last year.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2026
Partners line up for arms deals as Japan opens defense industry door
“A number of countries” have approached Tokyo with “expressions of interest and various needs” about Japanese defense equipment, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi prepares for a family photo session with NATO permanent representatives, including Romania's Dan Neculaescu (second from left) and Norway’s Anita Nergaard (right) at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2026
From Brussels to Tokyo — NATO delegation maps out next cooperation steps with Japan
Officials say the partnership could act as a force multiplier, combining Japan’s technological prowess with NATO’s operational experience.
U.S. allies should resist distancing themselves from Washington over Donald Trump and instead strengthen long-term economic and defense ties with the U.S. to safeguard their interests against emerging global rivals.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 16, 2026
The case for ‘hardened engagement’ with America
Allowing a distaste for one U.S. president (no matter how bombastic) to sever the ties that bind the free world is not only bad policy, it’s a recipe for strategic irrelevance.
Osamu Izawa, Japan's ambassador to NATO, speaks during an interview with The Japan Times at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 16, 2026
Japan-NATO cooperation enters new ‘concrete’ phase, Tokyo’s envoy to alliance says
The ambassador pointed to the creation of a high-level defense industry cooperation dialogue, but hinted that even more tie-ups were to come.
The scheduled visit to Japan on Wednesday of roughly 30 ambassadors to NATO comes amid heightened global volatility and growing friction within the organization.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2026
Eastward bound: Largest-ever NATO envoy delegation to visit Japan
The unprecedented visit by a delegation of roughly 30 ambassadors to NATO represents a significant milestone in deepening bilateral ties.
Peter Magyar, leader of the Tisza party, carries a Hungarian flag at an election night event during parliamentary elections in Budapest on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2026
Once inspired by Orban, Hungary’s Peter Magyar unseats him in landmark election
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s election defeat is expected to rattle Russia and send shockwaves through right-wing circles across the West.
Pedestrians cross Enghelab Square in Tehran, near a billboard showing Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader, in the Iranian capital on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2026
The Indo-Pacific price of a hasty war with Tehran
The allies are not abandoning the U.S.; they are recoiling from a war that lacks a defined strategy.

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