Defense of Japan 2025: Echoes of Kyiv – Russia's Aggression and the Forging of Japan's Indo-Pacific Defense Strategy

 

🎥 Official Public Release Footage: President Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi deliver joint remarks aboard the USS George Washington, Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan.

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Editor’s Preface – Context Note;

This article brings together two interconnected reports from Ghost Miracle News World. The first section presents the current event — President Donald J. Trump’s visit to Japan and his joint appearance with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aboard the USS George Washington on October 28, 2025. The second section revisits the foundational background from Japan’s official Defense of Japan 2025 White Paper, analyzing the global and Indo-Pacific security environment that shaped today’s historic moment. Together, they reveal how Japan’s evolving defense vision and U.S. strategic partnership continue to define the Indo-Pacific’s future.

First Section Presents — Waves of Alliance: Aboard the USS George Washington with President Trump and Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Introduction: A Historic Rendezvous on the Waves: Forging Unbreakable Bonds Between America and Japan

In a momentous display of trans-Pacific solidarity that resonates far beyond the decks of the USS George Washington, President Donald J. Trump's visit to Japan on October 28, 2025, stands as a pivotal chapter in the annals of international diplomacy and military prowess. Aboard this colossal forward-deployed aircraft carrier—affectionately dubbed the "GW" by its crew and weighing in at an awe-inspiring 100,000 tons—Trump, flanked by hundreds of American sailors and Japanese allies, delivered a rousing address that encapsulated the resurgence of American might and the deepening of the U.S.-Japan alliance. 

This event, timed to honor the United States Navy's 250th anniversary, was not merely a ceremonial gathering but a clarion call for Indo-Pacific unity, where the echoes of "God Bless the USA" intertwined with solemn pledges to safeguard freedom across vast oceans. Trump's journey to Yokosuka Naval Base underscored a renewed commitment to regional stability, evoking the spirit of past leaders like the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific Trump now champions with unyielding vigor. At the heart of this spectacle was the unveiling of shared aspirations: from bolstering defense capabilities through advanced missile deliveries to Japan's F-35 fleet, ahead of schedule, to celebrating economic triumphs like record stock market highs and 

Toyota's multibillion-dollar investments in American auto plants. Yet, the true luminaries were the unsung heroes—the sailors, aviators, and deckhands whose sacrifices Trump lauded with personal anecdotes, from rescue missions off Japan's coast to the grueling separations endured by families like that of Chief Warrant Officer Will Hightower. Enter Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Japan's trailblazing first female leader, whose poised remarks aboard the GW articulated a vision of proactive regional contributions, multi-layered cooperation, and an unbreakable resolve to elevate the world's greatest alliance to unprecedented heights. Together, their joint declarations wove a tapestry of security imperatives—countering unprecedented threats with unwavering action—economic interdependence that has funneled over 17 trillion dollars into the U.S. economy in mere months, and cherished values of peace, prosperity, and mutual respect forged from the ashes of history's darkest conflicts.

 

The strategic outcomes of this summit are profound: reaffirmed defense pacts that ensure deterrence through integrated exercises and logistics, innovative reversals like reverting to proven steam catapults and hydraulic elevators on future carriers to slash costs and enhance reliability, and a blueprint for ending global conflicts—from the Middle East to Southeast Asia—through tariffs, trade savvy, and the sheer prestige of American naval dominance. As Trump quipped about the Navy's unmatched spirit, "We're first in war, first in peace, first in wealth, first in power," this gathering transcends symbolism; it is a blueprint for a bolder era where alliances are not just pacts on paper but living testaments to shared destiny. Readers, imagine the thunder of F-35s slicing the horizon, the strategic calculus of a trillion-dollar military budget channeled with precision, and the quiet heroism of those who man the watch amid rising tides of uncertainty—these pages invite you to dive deeper into a narrative of triumph that promises not just to recount history in the making, but to inspire your own stake in its unfolding legacy. What follows illuminates each facet of this extraordinary alliance, revealing how two nations, bound by steel and resolve, are charting a course toward an unassailable future of peace and prosperity.

✩ Table of Contents ✩ 

• 1. President Trump’s Visit to Japan – Strengthening Indo-Pacific Unity  
• 2. The USS George Washington Ceremony – Symbol of Allied Strength  
• 3. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi – Japan’s First Female Leader and Her Vision  
• 4. Joint U.S.–Japan Remarks – Security, Economy, and Shared Values  
• 5. Strategic Outcomes – Reaffirming the U.S.–Japan Defense Partnership
• 6.Conclusion

1. President Trump’s Visit to Japan – Strengthening Indo-Pacific Unity 

 President Donald J. Trump's visit to Japan on October 28, 2025, emerged as a beacon of renewed vigor in the Indo-Pacific theater, a strategic expanse where the tides of commerce, conflict, and cooperation converge to shape the global order. Alighting at Yokosuka Naval Base, Trump made his way to the flight deck of the USS George Washington, the crown jewel of forward-deployed American naval assets, weighing an imposing 100,000 tons and revered by its crew as the "GW." This was no fleeting courtesy call; it was a deliberate orchestration of symbolism and substance, aligning with the United States Navy's semiquincentennial milestone to underscore the imperative of unity amid mounting regional pressures. 

Trump's address, commencing amid the resonant strains of "God Bless the USA," immediately galvanized the audience of thousands—American sailors, Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel, and dignitaries alike—casting them as "patriots, champions, winners" whose unswerving service has propelled the nation from a state of eroded prestige to unparalleled global esteem. In just over a year since the transformative November 5th electoral mandate, he noted, America has metamorphosed into "the hottest country anywhere in the world," a feat attributable in no small measure to the valor of those stationed far from home shores. The visit spotlighted the U.S.-Japan alliance as a paragon of international relations, one "cherished" and "remarkable," evolving from the devastation of World War II into an eight-decade edifice of Pacific tranquility. Trump voiced profound admiration for Japan, its people, and its forces, eliciting thunderous applause that echoed across the bay, a visceral affirmation of bonds that extend beyond treaties to the realm of profound respect and camaraderie. Central to this unity was Trump's evocation of historical continuity: six years prior, at the identical Yokosuka setting, he had stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, forging a pact to clasp hands in defense of regional harmony. 

Today, that legacy endures, invigorated by a shared determination to preserve a "free and open" Indo-Pacific as the bedrock for collective peace and affluence. The region's security landscape, Trump and his counterparts agreed, demands more than declarative intent; it necessitates "unwavering determination and action" to navigate an "unprecedented severe security environment." From the GW's vantage, the silhouettes of Japanese vessels—the Moami and Maya—engaged in synchronized maneuvers served as a living testament to this ethos, their hulls cutting through waters patrolled jointly to deter encroachments and uphold navigational freedoms. Trump's itinerary in Japan was a tapestry of engagements that amplified these principles. En route from a productive summit in Malaysia, where he deftly mediated nascent disputes, Trump arrived primed to reinforce multilateral ties. His remarks wove threads of military, economic, and diplomatic fabric: the Navy's recruitment renaissance, from shortages to surfeit waiting lists in 2025, mirroring a national spirit rekindled post-election; the GW's singular role as the world's only permanently overseas carrier, its 4.5 acres of armored sovereignty forming the vanguard against threats to American and allied interests. Sailors aboard, he emphasized, embody a sacred duty to traverse oceans, engage foes, and shield partners with "unwavering resolve," their forward posture a daily dividend of peace through presence. 

Economically, the visit illuminated symbiotic gains: concurrent all-time highs in U.S. and Japanese stock indices, harbingers of aligned fortunes, with Japan channeling substantial investments into American ventures. Toyota's commitment to over 10 billion dollars in U.S. auto facilities exemplifies this influx, part of a colossal 17 trillion dollars in foreign capital drawn to America within eight months—a deluge dwarfing predecessors and fueled by astute tariffs that compel equitable trade while spawning employment and resilience. These inflows, Trump explained, fortify national security, enabling a trillion-dollar military outlay executed with unprecedented fiscal prudence. The human dimension of Indo-Pacific unity shone through in Trump's tributes to exemplary service members. He recounted the daring rescue by Naval Air Crewman Third Class James McCall, who, off Japan's coast two years hence, orchestrated the extraction of three beleaguered Navy divers from roiling seas, averting tragedy through sheer acumen. Beckoning McCall forward, Trump lauded his poise amid heartbreak, his words—"God bless America and all my fellow shipmates"—resonating as a microcosm of alliance solidarity, where losses are mourned collectively and triumphs savored in unison. Likewise, 

Chief Warrant Officer Will Hightower's odyssey—12 months at sea, a scant three weeks ashore amid his young family's tender years—personified the quiet toll of deployment, his impending homecoming timed serendipitously for his daughter's birthday evoking universal empathy. Such narratives humanized the abstract, illustrating how unity is sustained not by admirals alone but by the rank-and-file whose mettle forges the chain of command. Trump's dialogue with the crew further democratized the visit's import. Bantering with Captain Timothy Weights over Alabama's gridiron grit—"Roll Tide," he cheered, alluding to a recent nail-biter—Trump bridged hierarchies, while his technical inquisitions on catapults and elevators solicited frontline wisdom. Favoring steam over electric for its hammer-and-blowtorch fixability and hydraulic over magnetic for lightning-proof reliability, he vowed executive directives to recalibrate future builds, slashing overruns and honoring the ingenuity of those who maintain "the largest and most complex machine ever built." These exchanges underscored a participatory unity, where Indo-Pacific strategy draws from the deckplate up, ensuring innovations serve operational imperatives rather than experimental excess. 

Geopolitically, the visit positioned the alliance as a fulcrum for broader stability. Trump's ledger of de-escalations—eight wars quelled in eight months, encompassing Kosovo-Serbia, Congo-Rwanda, Pakistan-India, Israel-Iran (bolstered by precision B-2 strikes on nascent nuclear sites), Egypt-Ethiopia, Armenia-Azerbaijan after 35 years of strife, Gaza's recent cessation, and Malaysia's Cambodia-Thailand accord—delineated a doctrine of preemptive harmony. These feats, achieved largely through verbal diplomacy laced with tariff threats and trade incentives, exemplify how economic leverage amplifies military deterrence, sparing lives without expending ordnance. In Japan, this translates to expedited missile consignments for F-35 integrations, "the best in the world" and coveted globally, arriving posthaste under Trump's approbation to enhance Japan's defensive sinews. 

The presence of luminaries—Admiral Samuel Paparo of Indo-Pacific Command, General Steven Jos of U.S. Forces Japan, Vice Admiral Fred Kacher of the Seventh Fleet—infused the visit with doctrinal depth, their ranks a phalanx affirming integrated command structures. Trump's asides, from jesting at his admiral aspirations to decrying past follies like squandered Afghan matériel, infused levity while reinforcing merit-based meritocracy, a post-Supreme Court ethos where talent trumps all. Pay elevations for all service members, coupled with restored family separation allowances for the GW's precipitous return, materialized this reciprocity, ensuring those who safeguard unity reap its rewards. As the visit culminated, Trump's peroration invoked George Washington's mantle—"first in war, first in peace"—extending it to primacy in wealth, power, science, spirit, and liberty. 

The Indo-Pacific, once shadowed by doubt, now gleams with collaborative promise: Japanese commitments to bolster defenses dovetailing with American largesse, joint exercises etching deterrence into the seascape, economic currents binding fates. This sojourn in Japan, resonant with anthems and accolades, crystallized unity not as ephemeral accord but enduring architecture—a lattice where American audacity and Japanese tenacity interlock, navigating tempests toward a horizon of unassailable serenity. Through such presidential pilgrimages, the region discerns a blueprint for cohesion, where shared vigils yield dividends of deterrence, prosperity, and peace, inviting every stakeholder to contribute to this grand, interdependent voyage.

2. The USS George Washington Ceremony – Symbol of Allied Strength  

The USS George Washington ceremony on October 28, 2025, stood as a profound emblem of the unyielding alliance between the United States and Japan, a meticulously orchestrated event aboard the carrier's vast flight deck that fused military pageantry with diplomatic profundity to project an image of invincible collective resolve. President Donald J. Trump, addressing a sea of uniformed excellence under the carrier's towering silhouette, opened with the soul-stirring cadence of "God Bless the USA," instantly igniting the spirits of thousands of sailors and Japanese partners gathered to honor the U.S. Navy's 250th anniversary. This forward-deployed marvel, the GW as its crew endearingly calls it, a 100,000-ton leviathan and the sole aircraft carrier with a permanent overseas station, embodied the ceremony's core symbolism: American power not as distant thunder but as an ever-present guardian of Pacific freedoms. Trump's voice, resonant with pride, hailed the assembly as "special people," "champions," and "winners," crediting their service for America's meteoric rise from a nation adrift in disrespect to one commanding global awe in mere months.

 

The ceremony's stage, framed by the horizon where Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force ships Moami and Maya conducted visible joint drills, illustrated the tangible sinews of allied strength—vessels side by side, their wakes merging in a dance of deterrence that underscores multi-layered cooperation in logistics, maintenance, and community ties at Yokosuka. This was no isolated festivity; it was a renewal of vows from six years past, when Trump and the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had stood at this very spot, pledging hands united for regional peace. Now, amid an era of acute threats, the event reaffirmed that alliance as the world's preeminent bulwark, elevating it toward even loftier summits through shared action over mere words. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's interlude, invited by Trump as "the first female prime minister in the history of Japan," infused the proceedings with graceful authority. Her remarks, delivered with measured poise, paid homage to the "men and women in uniform" from both nations for their ceaseless safeguarding of peace, drawing applause that bridged linguistic divides. Marking the Navy's milestone anniversary, she positioned the GW as a "symbol of protecting freedom and peace in this region," her gaze sweeping toward the allied ships below to highlight the collaborative exercises and Yokosuka's indispensable support network. Takaichi's pledge to "fundamentally reinforce" Japan's defenses and contribute "even more proactively" to stability resonated as a clarion call, her vision of advancing "together with our sails raised high across a free and open sea" evoking a nautical poetry of unbreakable partnership. Trump's effusive response—"That was beautiful"—sealed the moment, his assurance of a "long good relationship" laced with wry acknowledgment of negotiation's rigors, yet buoyant with optimism for fun amid the formidable. 

The ceremony's symbolic heft deepened with Trump's revelation of approving the inaugural shipment of elite missiles for Japan's F-35 fleet, expedited under his directive and en route that very week. These "best in the world" armaments, which he humorously claimed to have "hugged" upon arrival, symbolized not just technological largesse but the seamless interoperability that amplifies allied potency—hardware that ensures synchronized strikes against any aggressor. Flanked by luminaries like Admiral Samuel Paparo of Indo-Pacific Command, General Steven Jos of U.S. Forces Japan, Vice Admiral Fred Kacher of the Seventh Fleet, and Rear Admiral Eric Ando of Carrier Strike Group Five, Trump orchestrated a roll call that personified command synergy, his quips about their cinematic good looks lightening the gravity while affirming their elite stature. The carrier's command triad—Captain Timothy Weights, to whom Trump tossed an exuberant "Roll Tide" nod for his Alabama loyalty; Executive Officer Captain Patrick Blank; and Command Master Chief Tony Roberts—emerged as icons of merit-driven leadership, individuals who forgo Wall Street fortunes for the noble helm of naval destiny. These figures, 

Trump marveled, exemplify the meritocracy now enshrined in American ethos, where talent and toil eclipse all else. The ceremony wove heroism into its fabric through intimate vignettes that humanized the machinery of might. Trump summoned Naval Air Crewman Third Class James McCall, whose two-year-old exploit off Japan's coast—piloting a rescue amid presumed fatalities to retrieve three Navy divers—epitomized the Navy's fraternal ethos. McCall's onstage brevity, invoking blessings on shipmates and America, drew roars, transforming personal valor into communal inspiration. Echoing this, Chief Warrant Officer Will Hightower's narrative of a year-long separation—home for a mere three weeks, his return coinciding with his daughter's birthday—captured the silent sacrifices underpinning the GW's vigilance. Trump's gentle inquiry—"How does it feel?"—and Hightower's "Feels amazing" elicited shared tenderness, reminding all that allied strength endures through such familial fortitude. 

Operational splendor animated the event: deck crews in their chromatic hierarchy—blue shirts for aviation, yellow for aircraft directors, green for catapult operators, red for ordnance—swarmed with practiced precision, their toil ensuring the "largest and most complex machine ever built" hums flawlessly. Trump engaged them viscerally, polling on steam versus electric catapults, championing the former's simplicity—"fix it with a hammer and a blowtorch"—over the latter's exorbitant failures, and hydraulics over magnets for elevators, decrying faddish overreach. His vowed executive orders to revert designs promised fiscal wisdom, embedding crew expertise into policy and symbolizing an alliance attuned to practical prowess. The Navy's 250-year saga, Trump evoked, shines through the GW's permanence: a Norfolk parade of destroyers, submarines, and carriers he recently witnessed, a spectacle of dominance where "no enemy will ever even dream of threatening America's navy." This forward bastion, he stressed, crushes threats with unparalleled weaponry and personnel, its spirit the ultimate arsenal. Economic undercurrents bolstered the symbolism: Trump's tout of concurrent stock surges and Japan's investments, including Toyota's 10-billion-dollar U.S. infusion, as fruits of tariff-savvy trade that has magnetized 17 trillion dollars stateside in eight months. 

These currents fortify the alliance, channeling prosperity to sustain the steel that deters. Globally, the ceremony projected peacemaking prowess: eight conflicts quelled—from Gaza's truce to Armenia-Azerbaijan's 35-year cessation—via diplomatic finesse and economic levers, sparing interventions and lives. Domestically, pledges of universal pay hikes and full deployment reimbursements for the GW's early harbor honored reciprocity, fueling recruitment highs and morale. As the sun dipped, Trump's coda channeled George Washington's creed—"first in war, first in peace"—to proclaim American primacy across domains, rallying with "Damn the torpedoes. Full speed ahead." With Japanese allies, this symbolized surge over stasis: a bond where the GW's decks, alive with anthems and accolades, forge symbols into sinews of strength, navigating toward a luminous horizon of shared sovereignty and serenity.

3. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi – Japan’s First Female Leader and Her Vision  

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's ascension to leadership on October 28, 2025, etched a transformative milestone in Japan's political landscape, marking her as the nation's first female prime minister and a beacon of progressive resolve in an era demanding bold stewardship. Stepping into the annals of history amid the grandeur of the USS George Washington ceremony, Takaichi embodied a fusion of tradition and innovation, her poised demeanor and articulate vision captivating an international audience of American sailors, Japanese Self-Defense Forces personnel, and global observers.

 

President Donald J. Trump's introduction of her as the "new and incredible prime minister" and the "first female prime minister in the history of Japan" set the stage for a moment of profound symbolism, one that not only celebrated her trailblazing role but also heralded a new chapter in Japan's proactive engagement with the world. Takaichi's remarks, delivered with elegant precision aboard the carrier's flight deck, wove a narrative of gratitude, continuity, and forward momentum, positioning her leadership as a catalyst for elevating Japan's contributions to regional harmony. In a voice resonant with sincerity, she extended thanks to Trump for the opportunity to address the assembly, framing the event as an honor tied to the U.S. Navy's semiquincentennial anniversary—a milestone that underscores centuries of maritime guardianship. The USS George Washington, she affirmed, stands as an enduring "symbol of protecting freedom and peace in this region," a platform from which her vision for a collaborative future could be proclaimed to the horizon. At the core of Takaichi's address lay an unwavering tribute to the "men and women in uniform" from Japan's Self-Defense Forces and U.S. Forces Japan, whose "dedication and commitment" she lauded for safeguarding national and regional security "day and night." This acknowledgment was more than ceremonial; it reflected her deep-seated appreciation for the human element in defense, a theme that permeates her leadership philosophy.

 

As Japan's first female prime minister, Takaichi brings to the office a perspective enriched by decades of public service, including her tenure as a key figure in foreign affairs and economic policy, where she championed reforms to bolster Japan's global standing. Her vision, articulated with clarity amid the carrier's vast expanse, draws on historical precedents to propel contemporary action. She evoked the poignant memory of six years prior, when the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Trump had convened at the same Yokosuka locale, standing "side by side" to demonstrate a resolute commitment that Japan and the United States would "join hands to ensure peace and security in this region." This reference was not mere nostalgia but a deliberate bridge to the present, where Takaichi, as the two nations' commanders-in-chief now converge once more, renews that determination with amplified urgency. Under her guidance, she pledged to "carry forward that resolve," transforming it into a dynamic force to render the Indo-Pacific "free and open," thereby laying the "foundation of peace and prosperity for the entire region." Takaichi's worldview is acutely attuned to the exigencies of the moment, recognizing an "unprecedented severe security environment" that brooks no complacency.

 

"Peace cannot be preserved by words alone," she declared, a statement that encapsulates her pragmatic ethos: true stability emerges from "unwavering determination and action." This principle animates her administration's priorities, emphasizing tangible enhancements to Japan's defensive posture while fostering deeper synergies with allies. From the vantage of the USS George Washington, Takaichi directed attention to the adjacent Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels, the Moami and Maya, whose ongoing joint exercises with the carrier exemplify the operational intimacy she seeks to expand. These maneuvers, she noted, are buttressed by the tireless efforts of Japanese and American personnel in Yokosuka's logistics and maintenance hubs, where a "strong sense of bond with the local community" has long sustained U.S. Navy activities. Such integrations form the bedrock of her multi-layered vision for cooperation, ensuring the "credibility of our two nations' deterrence and response capabilities." In Takaichi's eyes, this collaborative architecture is not static but evolutionary, a framework that empowers Japan to "contribute even more proactively to peace and stability of the region." Her commitment to "fundamentally reinforce its defense capabilities" signals a departure from restraint toward assertive partnership, aligning with her long-held advocacy for constitutional reinterpretations that enable greater military flexibility. As Japan's first female leader,

 

Takaichi infuses this agenda with a nuanced inclusivity, drawing on her experiences as a woman navigating male-dominated spheres to promote diverse voices in policy formulation. Her vision extends beyond defense to a holistic elevation of the U.S.-Japan alliance, which she described as "already the greatest alliance in the world," destined under joint stewardship with Trump to reach "even greater heights." This aspiration is poetic yet grounded: "Japan and the United States will advance together with our sails raised high across a free and open sea," she envisioned, invoking nautical imagery that resonates with the carrier's domain. The "sea route from Yokosuka," she confidently asserted, will only "make our bond even stronger and stronger," steering both nations toward a "shining future." This maritime metaphor underscores her strategic foresight, viewing the Indo-Pacific as an interconnected domain where unimpeded navigation—both literal and figurative—fosters prosperity for all stakeholders. Takaichi's remarks concluded on a note of optimism, her applause-drawing delivery leaving an indelible impression of resolve tempered by grace. Trump's immediate affirmation—"That was beautiful. 

Thank you very much"—and his pledge of a enduring partnership, complete with the levity of shared endeavors, amplified the moment's impact, hinting at the personal rapport that will underpin bilateral initiatives. Yet, it is Takaichi's independent vision that truly distinguishes her tenure: a blueprint for Japan to transition from reactive ally to co-architect of regional order. Rooted in her scholarly background in international relations and her tenure in roles advocating economic revitalization, her leadership prioritizes innovation in defense technologies, sustainable trade frameworks, and cultural exchanges that deepen people-to-people ties. As the first woman to helm Japan, she confronts entrenched norms with quiet authority, advocating for gender parity in governance while steering clear of divisive rhetoric. Her emphasis on action over articulation aligns with a broader philosophy of measured ambition, where reinforcements to defense are paired with diplomatic outreach to mitigate tensions proactively. In the context of global flux, Takaichi's vision posits Japan not as a peripheral player but as a pivotal force, leveraging its technological prowess and economic clout to complement American leadership. The USS George Washington ceremony served as an ideal amphitheater for this unveiling, its decks a canvas where her words painted a future of heightened interoperability—from enhanced joint training regimens to co-developed cybersecurity protocols. Her reiteration of gratitude to frontline personnel humanizes this agenda, ensuring that strategic gains honor the sacrifices of those who execute them.

 

Looking ahead, Takaichi's roadmap includes bolstering Japan's role in multilateral forums, from ASEAN dialogues to Quad summits, where her voice as a female trailblazer can advocate for inclusive security paradigms. Domestically, she envisions reforms that empower women in STEM and defense sectors, fostering a talent pipeline that sustains long-term resilience. Internationally, her commitment to a "shining future" through fortified alliances promises a Japan that punches above its weight, not through isolation but through intertwined destinies. In embodying this vision on October 28, 2025, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi not only shattered glass ceilings but also charted a course for her nation—one of empowered partnership, resolute action, and luminous potential. Her leadership, born of historical reverence and future-oriented zeal, assures that Japan's first female prime minister will be remembered not just for precedence but for propelling an era of unparalleled regional concord.

4. Joint U.S.–Japan Remarks – Security, Economy, and Shared Values  

The joint remarks delivered by President Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aboard the USS George Washington on October 28, 2025, formed a compelling dialogue that intertwined the imperatives of security, the dynamism of economic interdependence, and the enduring tapestry of shared values, crafting a narrative of alliance that resonates across the Indo-Pacific and beyond. In this exchange, set against the carrier's expansive flight deck with the Pacific horizon as witness, the two leaders articulated a vision where military vigilance safeguards prosperity, and historical reconciliation fuels mutual aspiration. Trump's introductory flourish, inviting Takaichi to speak as Japan's "new and incredible prime minister" and the nation's first female leader, established a tone of genuine camaraderie, his subsequent endorsement of her words as "beautiful" underscoring the personal chemistry that animates their partnership. This verbal interplay was not scripted formality but a genuine confluence of perspectives, where Trump's bold proclamations complemented Takaichi's measured resolve, yielding a holistic blueprint for bilateral advancement. On security, the remarks converged with striking synergy, framing the U.S.-Japan alliance as an impregnable shield in a landscape fraught with peril. Trump, addressing the sailors and Japanese allies as "incredible partners," extolled the bond as "one of the most remarkable relationships in the entire world," born from the "ashes of a terrible war" and now the "foundation of peace and security in the Pacific." He emphasized the forward-deployed permanence of the USS George Washington, its 100,000 tons a "symbol of American might, power, and prestige," patrolling 4.5 acres of sovereignty to deter any who might threaten freedom's expanse.

 

This carrier, he noted, collaborates seamlessly with Japanese forces, its deck overlooking joint exercises with vessels like the Moami and Maya, a visual testament to integrated operations that ensure "no enemy will ever even dream of threatening America's navy." Takaichi amplified this theme, expressing "deep respect and sincere gratitude" to the uniformed personnel of both nations for their "day and night" commitment to regional safeguarding. Recalling the six-year anniversary of Trump and the late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Yokosuka summit, she renewed the pledge to "join hands" for stability, now as commanders-in-chief standing "side by side" once more. In an era of "unprecedented severe security environment," she asserted, "peace cannot be preserved by words alone" but demands "unwavering determination and action." Her focus on the "multi-layered Japan-U.S. cooperation"—encompassing logistics, maintenance in Yokosuka, and community bonds—highlighted how such synergies bolster "the credibility of our two nations' deterrence and response capabilities." Together, their words charted a proactive course: Japan's vow to "fundamentally reinforce its defense capabilities" and contribute "even more proactively" dovetailed with Trump's announcement of expedited missile deliveries to Japan's F-35 fleet, "the best in the world" and arriving ahead of schedule under his personal approval.

 

This hardware infusion symbolizes not mere aid but enhanced interoperability, ensuring allied forces can synchronize to "crush" threats with precision. Trump's broader security canvas included global peacemaking—averting eight wars in eight months through strength and savvy—positioning the alliance as a regional anchor for worldwide equilibrium. Takaichi's vision of advancing "together with our sails raised high across a free and open sea" echoed this, her confidence in the "sea route from Yokosuka" forging an ever-stronger bond toward a "shining future." Economically, the joint remarks illuminated a partnership where security begets prosperity, and trade fortifies resilience. Trump highlighted the serendipitous alignment of all-time high stock markets in both nations, quipping that such peaks signify "we're doing something right" and have rendered them "very close friends all of a sudden." This economic harmony stems from policies channeling over 17 trillion dollars into America in eight months, a torrent eclipsing prior administrations and propelled by tariffs that compel fair play while generating jobs and investments. Japan emerges as a prime beneficiary and contributor: its "big investments" into the U.S., exemplified by Toyota's over 10-billion-dollar pledge for new auto plants, exemplify reciprocity, creating employment waves and supply chain robustness amid booming AI and manufacturing sectors. Trump credited these inflows to post-election momentum—"November 5th, election day"—and tariff acumen, which not only swells coffers but averts conflicts, as seen in de-escalations between nuclear powers like India and Pakistan through trade leverage.

 

Takaichi's remarks, though security-centric, implicitly underpin this economic narrative by advocating a "free and open" Indo-Pacific as the "foundation of peace and prosperity," where unimpeded maritime routes sustain commerce for billions. Her emphasis on proactive contributions aligns with Japan's role in revitalizing shipbuilding collaborations with the U.S., a nod to reclaiming industrial primacy lost over decades. Together, they portrayed economy as security's handmaiden: a trillion-dollar military budget, executed with wisdom, draws capital that funds further deterrence, while investments like Toyota's ensure mutual growth in an interconnected global marketplace. Shared values formed the emotional core of their exchange, a thread of mutual respect woven from history's lessons into a fabric of enduring friendship. Trump invoked the alliance's evolution over eight decades, from wartime adversaries to beloved partners, his applause for "all of the Japanese people that we love and respect" drawing unified cheers that transcended borders. This respect, he stressed, underpins a merit-based ethos where "talent and work and hard work" prevail, a principle echoed in his praise for sailors who choose service over fortunes. Takaichi mirrored this with her homage to the "dedication and commitment" of forces, her gratitude a bridge to the "strong sense of bond" in Yokosuka's communities. Both leaders celebrated the human spirit:

 

Trump's tales of rescues like James McCall's off Japan's coast and sacrifices like Will Hightower's family separations humanized valor, while Takaichi's resolve to carry forward Abe's legacy honored collective memory. Their interaction—Trump's warm interjection post her speech, pledging a "long good relationship" with "fun" amid challenges—revealed values of trust and levity, where negotiation's toughness yields to shared triumphs. This values-driven dialogue extended to broader ideals: freedom's defense, as in the Navy's 250-year legacy of "courage and pride, honor and victory"; prosperity through open seas; and peace via strength, where "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" rallies allies. Takaichi's nautical flourish of raised sails evoked a voyage of enlightenment, her determination to elevate the "greatest alliance in the world" to greater heights aligning with Trump's declaration of America as "first in war, first in peace, first in wealth, first in power, first in science, first in spirit, and first in freedom." In this symphony of remarks, security's steel frames economy's sails, while shared values—the reverence for sacrifice, the embrace of history's redemption, the pursuit of merit and harmony—bind the mast. The joint address, alive with applause and anthems, transcended rhetoric to embody a covenant: two nations, leaders in lockstep, navigating uncertainties with fortified defenses, flourishing trade, and a moral compass attuned to liberty's call. As the sun cast long shadows over allied vessels, their words lingered as a manifesto for the Indo-Pacific—a realm where vigilance ensures vitality, and values ignite velocity toward an unshadowed dawn.

5. Strategic Outcomes – Reaffirming the U.S.–Japan Defense Partnership

The strategic outcomes of the October 28, 2025, summit aboard the USS George Washington crystallized a robust reaffirmation of the U.S.-Japan defense partnership, yielding concrete advancements that fortify both nations' postures against emerging threats while embedding economic vitality and operational interoperability into the alliance's core. This gathering, timed to the U.S. Navy's 250th anniversary, transcended ceremonial bounds to deliver actionable dividends: from immediate hardware transfers to long-term doctrinal evolutions, all underscoring a shared commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific as the linchpin of global stability. At the forefront stands the expedited delivery of advanced missiles to Japan's F-35 fleet, a decision greenlit directly by President Donald J. Trump and set to commence that week, ahead of schedule. These precision armaments, described as the "best in the world" and universally coveted, enhance Japan's aerial strike capabilities, ensuring seamless integration with U.S. systems for rapid, coordinated responses to provocations.

 

This transfer is no isolated gesture but a cornerstone of interoperability, enabling joint forces to synchronize operations with lethal efficiency, thereby amplifying deterrence in contested maritime domains. Complementing this, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's pledge to "fundamentally reinforce" Japan's defense architecture signals a paradigm shift toward proactive posture, with resources allocated for expanded procurement, training regimens, and infrastructure upgrades that align Japan's Self-Defense Forces more closely with U.S. doctrines. The visible joint exercises between the USS George Washington and Japanese vessels like the Moami and Maya, conducted in Yokosuka Bay during the event, exemplify this evolution: multi-domain maneuvers that test command-and-control linkages, logistical sustainment, and real-time intelligence sharing, outcomes that translate to heightened readiness against hybrid threats. Yokosuka's role as a nexus of maintenance and community integration further solidifies these gains, with bilateral crews collaborating on carrier overhauls and supply chains, reducing response times and operational costs while fostering enduring personnel exchanges. Beyond tactical enhancements, the partnership's reaffirmation manifests in policy recalibrations that prioritize reliability and fiscal prudence. 

Trump's directive to revert future aircraft carriers to steam catapults and hydraulic elevators—drawing on crew expertise to supplant experimental electric and magnetic systems—promises to curtail billion-dollar overruns, ensuring a fleet that remains agile and affordable. This executive intent, voiced amid direct consultations with the GW's mechanics, embeds alliance-wide lessons, inviting Japanese input on co-production of naval components to mutual benefit. Such innovations not only safeguard U.S. naval supremacy but extend collaborative dividends, as joint shipbuilding initiatives—reviving Philadelphia yards and partnering with Japanese expertise—aim to reclaim industrial primacy, yielding vessels that patrol shared waters with unified purpose. Economically, the outcomes interlace defense with prosperity, recognizing that secure seas underpin commerce's flow. The summit's alignment of record stock market highs in both nations catalyzes investment surges, with Japan's commitments—such as Toyota's 10-billion-dollar infusion into U.S. auto facilities—generating jobs and technological spillovers that bolster defense supply chains. Over 17 trillion dollars in global capital directed to America within eight months, harnessed through tariff mechanisms, funds a trillion-dollar military outlay executed with unprecedented oversight, ensuring resources cascade to allies via technology transfers and joint ventures. These economic bulwarks deter aggression by design: tariffs have not only averted conflicts between powers like India and Pakistan but also compelled fair trade that sustains the alliance's material base, from semiconductors to rare earths essential for missile guidance and radar arrays. Recruitment and retention strides emerge as human capital outcomes, with the Navy's 2025 enlistment peak—waiting lists swelling post-November 5th—mirroring a revitalized spirit that extends to Japanese forces through cross-training programs. Universal pay elevations for U.S. service members, coupled with full restitution of family separation allowances for the GW's early return, incentivize sustained excellence, outcomes that inspire reciprocal morale boosts in Japan's ranks, fostering a talent pool resilient to demographic pressures. Globally, the partnership's reaffirmation radiates as a stabilizer, with Trump's chronicle of eight wars quelled in eight months—from Gaza's cessation to Armenia-Azerbaijan's 35-year truce—demonstrating how U.S.-Japan synergy exports peace through strength.

 

Precision interventions, like B-2 strikes neutralizing Iran's nuclear ambitions, underscore the alliance's extended deterrence umbrella, where Japanese bases host U.S. assets that project power without provocation. Diplomatic levers—trade penalties and incentives—have de-escalated flashpoints in Kosovo-Serbia, Congo-Rwanda, Egypt-Ethiopia, and Cambodia-Thailand, outcomes attributable to the prestige of forward presence like the GW, which dissuades adventurism across theaters. Takaichi's vision of elevating the "greatest alliance in the world" to "even greater heights" operationalizes this, committing Japan to augmented roles in multilateral constructs, from intelligence fusion centers to humanitarian assistance deployments, yielding a networked defense that multiplies effectiveness without escalation. The human legacies of the event—honors for rescuers like James McCall, whose coastal saves off Japan epitomize fraternal bonds, and acknowledgments of deployments like Will Hightower's, enduring separations for familial milestones—translate to strategic cohesion, where personal resilience underpins unit-level trust essential for crisis response. Command alignments, with figures like Admiral Samuel Paparo of Indo-Pacific Command and General Steven Jos of U.S. Forces Japan, ensure doctrinal harmony, outcomes that streamline Seventh Fleet operations and Carrier Strike Group Five's rotations. In aggregate, these deliverables reaffirm a partnership not of parity but of complementarity:

 

America's projection paired with Japan's precision, economic interdependence fortifying both. The USS George Washington's decks, alive with unified applause, symbolize this culmination—a forward bastion where outcomes converge to deter, deter seamlessly, and deter decisively. As sails metaphorically rise over free seas, the U.S.-Japan defense compact emerges fortified: resilient against shocks, adaptive to innovations, and visionary in scope. This reaffirmation charts a trajectory where strategic gains beget cascading securities—maritime lanes unthreatened, economies intertwined, values vindicated—ensuring the Indo-Pacific endures as a domain of opportunity, not contest. Through such measured yet momentous strides, the alliance stands taller, its outcomes a testament to deliberate stewardship that secures not just borders but the broader peace, inviting sustained investment in this indispensable bond for generations to come.

6.Conclusion

As the echoes of applause fade from the flight deck of the USS George Washington on this historic October 28, 2025, the indelible imprint of President Donald J. Trump's visit to Japan lingers like the salt-kissed breeze over Yokosuka Bay—a testament to the enduring vitality of the U.S.-Japan alliance in an era of profound global flux. This convergence, marked by the Navy's semiquincentennial splendor and the trailblazing presence of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi,

 

Japan's first female leader, has not merely reaffirmed bonds forged in the crucible of history but propelled them toward uncharted horizons of security, prosperity, and shared destiny. From the resonant strains of "God Bless the USA" to Takaichi's eloquent invocation of sails raised high across free seas, the event encapsulated a narrative of resurgence: America's roar from the ashes of doubt to unparalleled respect, mirrored in Japan's proactive ascent as a co-guardian of the Indo-Pacific. Trump's candid dialogues with sailors—bantering over Alabama triumphs, querying catapult mechanics, honoring rescuers like James McCall and families like Will Hightower's—humanized the machinery of might, reminding all that true strength resides in the hearts of those who serve. His announcements, from missile consignments to F-35s to executive mandates for steam-powered reliability, blended immediacy with foresight, ensuring a fleet that deters not through extravagance but efficiency. Takaichi's vision, rooted in Shinzo Abe's legacy yet illuminated by her own resolve, pledged a Japan committed to reinforced defenses and multi-layered cooperation, where Yokosuka's harbors pulse with joint exercises and community ties that weave deterrence into daily resolve.

 

Their joint remarks wove security's steel threads with economy's golden veins—tariffs channeling 17 trillion dollars stateside, Toyota's billions seeding American soil—demonstrating how open lanes sustain not just trade but the very sinews of peace. Shared values, from merit's triumph over mediocrity to freedom's unyielding flame, bridged eight decades of reconciliation, transforming wartime scars into a foundation unshakeable. The strategic outcomes ripple outward: interoperability sharpened, recruitment revitalized, conflicts quelled from Gaza to the Mekong, all under a doctrine of peace through presence. Yet, this is no endpoint; it is a launchpad. As the GW stands sentinel, its 100,000 tons a colossus of collective will, the alliance beckons broader horizons—elevating the Quad, fortifying ASEAN ties, innovating against cyber shadows. For leaders, sailors, and citizens alike, the message is clear: in unity lies invincibility, where American audacity and Japanese precision chart waters untroubled by tempests. This chapter in Yokosuka closes not with finality but with the thunder of F-35s cleaving the sky, a promise that the Indo-Pacific—free, open, prosperous—shall endure as a beacon for generations. Let it inspire not passive admiration but active stewardship: for in defending these seas, we defend the soul of tomorrow. God bless the U.S.-Japan partnership; God bless the free world.

Second Section Presents — Defense of Japan 2025: Echoes of Kyiv – Russia's Aggression and the Forging of Japan's Indo-Pacific Defense Strategy

Introduction: A World in Flux – Navigating the New Era of Security Crises

In an era defined by accelerating geopolitical fissures and technological disruptions, the global security landscape stands at a precarious crossroads. The post-World War II international order, painstakingly constructed on pillars of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the prohibition of force, now faces its most profound test since 1945. Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, launched on February 24, 2022, has not only shattered the fragile peace in Europe but has reverberated across continents, exposing the fragility of rules-based norms and igniting a cascade of interconnected threats. This invasion—marked by blatant violations of the United Nations Charter, indiscriminate attacks on civilian infrastructure, and veiled nuclear saber-rattling—serves as a stark harbinger of unilateralism's resurgence. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia's actions undermine the very institution tasked with preserving global peace, sending a chilling message: might can eclipse right, and borders can be redrawn by fiat.

Yet, this crisis is but one thread in a broader tapestry of turmoil. The Indo-Pacific region, where Japan resides at the epicenter of economic vitality and strategic contestation, amplifies these global tremors into acute local perils. Home to over half the world's population and the engine of global growth through the dynamic confluence of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, this expanse is paradoxically a powder keg of unresolved disputes. Territorial frictions—such as Japan's inherent claims over the Northern Territories and Takeshima—persist amid aggressive maneuvers in the East and South China Seas. Nuclear-armed states with diverging values proliferate advanced arsenals, while non-state threats like piracy, terrorism, and weapons of mass destruction proliferation compound the volatility. Natural disasters, once siloed as humanitarian concerns, now intersect with security imperatives, demanding resilient infrastructures and adaptive alliances.

Compounding these human-induced hazards are paradigm-shifting technological advances. Hypersonic missiles, cyber intrusions, and artificial intelligence-driven disinformation campaigns are redefining warfare's contours, blurring the lines between peace and conflict. "Gray zone" tactics—coercive actions short of outright war, such as maritime incursions or economic strangulation—proliferate, enabling aggressors to erode status quos without triggering collective defenses. Hybrid warfare, fusing military precision with non-kinetic tools like ransomware assaults on critical grids or orchestrated propaganda floods, exploits these ambiguities, delaying responses and sowing division. In the electromagnetic spectrum, outer space, and digital realms, domains once considered commons now teem with contested access, where low-risk cyberattacks can cripple economies or sway elections. Climate change, too, emerges as a force multiplier, exacerbating resource scarcities and migration pressures that fuel instability.

For Japan, these currents converge into the most severe security environment since the war's end. Situated as a maritime nation amid continental powers, Japan benefits from the Indo-Pacific's prosperity but bears the brunt of its perils. Russia's Ukraine gambit underscores the fallacy of geographic isolation; as evidenced by deepening Russia-North Korea military ties—including ballistic missile transfers and troop deployments—the Eurasian landmass links Europe's battlefields to Asia's fault lines. Middle Eastern flare-ups, diverting U.S. assets, further strain trans-Pacific balances, while China's assertive expansion in the Taiwan Strait and beyond heightens the specter of escalation. Missile threats encircle Japan: North Korea's hypersonic salvos, China's DF-17 deployments, and Russia's Zircon strikes on Ukraine all signal an arms race in velocity and evasion, challenging interception paradigms.

This report dissects these dynamics through a multifaceted lens. Section 1 surveys the global and Indo-Pacific security milieu, illuminating interconnected risks and Japan's imperative to bolster deterrence—from missile shields to counterstrike enablers. Section 2 chronicles Russia's stalled blitzkrieg, Ukraine's tenacious counteroffensives, and the protracted attritional grind through 2025, including nuclear brinkmanship and foreign entanglements like North Korean reinforcements. Section 3 examines the war's ripple effects: NATO's reinvigoration, sanctions' bite, and divergent global stances—from China's tacit enabling to India's pragmatic abstention. Commentaries interweave regional linkages and missile escalations, underscoring why Europe's convulsions demand Japan's vigilant gaze.

Ultimately, this analysis posits that security is indivisible: Ukraine's defense is Japan's bulwark. As interstate rivalries intensify and "game-changer" technologies proliferate, Japan must evolve beyond reactive postures. Enhancing alliances, fortifying economic resilience, and pioneering hybrid countermeasures are not options but imperatives. In this new crisis epoch, foresight and fortitude will determine whether the free and open international order endures—or yields to coercion's shadow.

💬 Analysis & Commentary by Ghost Miracle News World

This section reflects independent analysis, interpretation, and contextual explanation based on the official “Defense of Japan 2025” White Paper.  

All views and explanations are original and intended for educational and journalistic understanding.

✩ Table of Contents ✩

• Section-1. Overview-(1)
• 1. Global Security Environment-(2)

• 2. Security Environment in the Indo-Pacific Region-(3)

• Commentary; The Impact on Japan of the Links Among the Security Environments of Each Region-(4)
• Commentary; The Rising Threat of Missiles in the Area around Japan-(5)

• Section-2. Russia’s Aggression and Defense by Ukraine-(6)
• 1. General Situation-(7)

• 2. Russia’s Aggression against Ukraine and the Future Outlook-(8)
• 1. The Failure of Russia’s Blitzkrieg and Ukraine’s Successful Defense-(9)

• 2. Redeployment of Russian Forces and Start of Ukrainian Counteroffensive-(10)
• (1) Redeployment of Troops and Territorial Expansion in Eastern and Southern Ukraine-(11)
• (2) Start of Ukrainian Counteroffensive-(12)

• 3. Ukrainian Counteroffensive on the Kharkiv and Kherson-(13) Fronts in 2022 and Russia’s Response-(14)
• (1) Full-fledged Ukraine Counteroffensive-(15)
• (2) Russia’s Response-(16)

• 4. Stagnation of Ukrainian Counteroffensive on the-(17) Zaporizhzhia Front in 2023 and Russian Eastern Offensive-(18)
• (1) Provision of Western Weapons to Ukraine and Stagnation of the Ukrainian Counteroffensive-(19)
• (2) Intensifying Russian Military Offensives and Missile Attacks in Eastern Ukraine-(20)

• 5. Ongoing Eastern Offensives and the Kharkiv Offensive by Russia, and Cross-border Attacks into Russia by Ukraine in 2024-(21)
• (1) Ongoing Eastern Offensives and the Start of the Kharkiv Offensive by the AFRF(22)
• (2) Cross-border Attacks into Russia by the AFU and Territorial Expansion in Eastern Ukraine by the AFRF(23)

• 6. Russia’s Attack on Nuclear Power Stations and Nuclear Facilities and the Situation Surrounding Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons(24)

• 7. Future Outlook(25)

• SECTION-3. Effects of Russian Aggression against Ukraine on International Affairs and How Various Countries Respond to It(26)
• 1. General Situation(27)
• 2. How NATO Member States and Other Countries Deal with the Situation(28)
• 3. How Other Regions Respond(29)

📖 Source: Official Release Ministry of Defense (Japan), “Defense of Japan 2025” — Official White Paper.  

© Government of Japan – Public domain document, used for educational, informational, and journalistic purposes.  

All information, text, and visuals are taken directly from the official release without modification or alteration.

Section-1. Overview

1. Global Security Environment

Current trends in the security environment have several features. First, states that do not share universal values or political and economic systems based on such values are expanding their influence. Unilateral changes to the status quo by force and such attempts represent significant challenges to the free and open international order underpinned by the rule of law. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has revealed this in a most blatant way. The international community is facing its greatest post-war trial yet and has entered a new era of crisis. In addition, the global power balance has significantly changed and interstate competition across the political, economic and military spheres is emerging. The interstate competition between China and the United States in particular is expected to further intensify in various fields.

Second, rapid advances in science and technology are fundamentally changing the paradigm of security. Countries are striving to develop cutting-edge technologies that could dramatically alter the character of warfare and thus prove to become “game changers.” The organization of military, methods and means of warfare are changing.

Third, there exists a range of global security challenges such as increasingly serious risks in cyber and other domains, information warfare, including the spread of disinformation, and climate change.

In addition, gray zone situations over territories are constantly occurring. It is highly likely that hybrid warfare, combining military and non-military means to achieve military objectives, such as information warfare that utilizes the spread of disinformation prior to an armed attack, will be conducted in an even more sophisticated form in the time ahead.

In cyber, maritime, space, and electromagnetic domains and other areas, the risks that impede free access and utilization of these areas are becoming increasingly serious. In particular, the threat of cyberattacks, in which the risk of exposure is relatively low and where attackers have an advantage, is growing rapidly. Cyberattacks have been used constantly to disable or destroy critical infrastructures, interfere in foreign elections, demand ransoms, and steal sensitive information, even in the form of state-sponsored cyberattacks.

Furthermore, addressing those issues not necessarily deemed as security targets in the past, such as supply chain vulnerabilities, increasing threats to critical infrastructures, and leadership struggles over advanced technologies, has also become a major security challenge. As a result, the scope of security has expanded to include the economic sector, making economic measures even more necessary to ensure security

• KEY WORD; Gray Zone Situations
• So-called “gray zone” situations simply represent a wide range of situations that are neither peacetime nor wartime. In a gray zone situation, for example, a country that confronts another over territory, sovereignty or maritime and other economic interests uses some forceful organization to demonstrate its presence in the relevant disputed region in a bid to alter the status quo or force other countries to accept its assertions or demands.

• KEY WORD; Hybrid Warfare
• The so-called “hybrid warfare” represents methods intentionally blurring the boundaries between the military and non-military realms, forcing affected actors to take complex measures that are not limited to military actions.
• The means of hybrid warfare include operations using military units of unidentified nationality, cyberattacks to affect communications and other critical infrastructure, the spread of false information through the internet and the media, and other influential operations. The combination of these measures is considered to amount to hybrid warfare. In hybrid warfare, a country takes measures that are difficult to identify definitively as an “armed attack” based on its outward appearance. It is said that such an approach is taken with the intent to make it difficult for the target country to address the situation, such as delaying the military’s initial response, while denying the attacker country’s own involvement.

2. Security Environment in the Indo-Pacific Region

The global security environment and challenges articulated above are particularly prominent in the Indo-Pacific region, where Japan is situated, and may get still severe in the future. The Indo-Pacific region is the core of global vitality, home to more than half of the world’s population. The dynamism of the intersection of the Pacific and the Indian Oceans is a growth engine for the global economy. Japan, situated in this region, is well positioned to benefit from this. 

At the same time, the Indo-Pacific region faces a host of security challenges. For example, several nations and regions that possess large military forces, including nuclear weapons, do not share universal values, nor political and economic systems based on such universal values. Furthermore, there exists a complex intertwining of diplomatic and other relations based on historical backgrounds. In the case of Japan, the territorial issues of the Northern Territories and Takeshima, which are inherent territories of Japan, remain unresolved. In addition, Japan faces threats and challenges of various types and intensities, such as unilateral changes to the status quo by force and such attempts in the East and South China Seas and other areas, piracy, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and natural disasters.

Japan is facing the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has easily breached the very foundation of the rules that shape the international order. The possibility cannot be precluded that a similar serious situation may arise in the future in the Indo-Pacific region, especially in East Asia. Across the globe, historical changes in power balances, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region, are occurring.

〇Indo-Pacific region has many security challenges. 　

・There are several nations and regions in this region with large military forces, including nuclear weapons, do not share universal values, nor the political and economic systems based on such universal values. 　

・There exists a complex intertwining of diplomatic and other relations based on historical backgrounds. 　

・Diverse threats and challenges of various types and intensities exist in this region, such as unilateral changes to the status quo by force and such attempts in the East China Sea and South China Seas and other areas, piracy, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and natural disasters.

(Note) Figures for modern destroyers and frigates for China show the total number of Renhai-class, Luhu-class, Luhai-class, Sovremenny-class, Luyang-class, and Luzhou-class destroyers and Jiangwei-class and Jiangkai-class frigates. Additionally, China has 49 Jiangdao-class corvettes (in 2025).

• (Notes) 1. Figures for ground forces are basically the numbers of Army personnel in “The Military Balance 2025.” Figures for maritime forces show their tonnages compiled by the MOD based on “Jane’s Fighting Ships 2024-2025.” Figures for air forces are the total numbers of bombers, fighters, attack aircraft, surveillance aircraft, etc., compiled by the MOD based on “The Military Balance 2025.” 

• 2. Figures for Japan indicate the strength of each JSDF as of the end of FY2024; the number of combat aircraft (air forces) is the sum of the ASDF aircraft (excluding transport aircraft) and the MSDF aircraft (fixed-wing aircraft only).

Figures are rounded off to the nearest 10,000 personnel. Figures for the United States include 450,000 Army personnel and 170,000 Marines personnel. Russia’s strength includes 550,000 Ground Force personnel and 35,000 Airborne troops personnel. Regarding Ukraine, 500,000 ground troops, 100,000 regional defense forces, and 45,000 airborne troops are included. Figures for Iran include 150,000 ground force personnel of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in addition to 350,000 Army personnel.

• (Notes) 1 Source: Documents published by the DoD, “The Military Balance 2025” and “SIPRI Yearbook 2024,” etc. 
• 2 Figures for Japan indicate the strength of each JSDF as of the end of FY2024; the number of combat aircraft is the sum of the ASDF aircraft (excluding transport aircraft) and the MSDF aircraft (fixed-wing aircraft only). 
• 3 Figures for the ground forces of U.S. Forces Japan/Korea indicate the combined total for Army troops and U.S. Marines. 
• 4 Figures for combat aircraft include naval and marine aircraft. 
• 5 Figures in parentheses indicate the total number of major units such as divisions and brigades. That for North Korea includes only divisions. 
• 6 The figures for the U.S. 7th Fleet indicate forces forward-deployed to Japan and Guam. 
• 7 The figures for the combat aircraft of U.S. Forces Japan and the U.S. 7th Fleet include only fighter aircraft.

Commentary; The Impact on Japan of the Links Among the Security 

The Indo-Pacific is a region in which a complex mix of continents, peninsulas, and islands are located within a vast geographical area. Japan is not in an environment in which it is connected to other countries primarily by land borders as are China, Russia, the Korean Peninsula, and Europe, but taking into account cases such as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and the deteriorating Middle East situation, we cannot deny the possibility that even regions far away across the ocean could have an impact on Japan’s security.

Generally speaking, as cross-border economic activities and flows of people grow, events occurring in geographically distant regions begin to have an impact on other regions through the transactions and flows of people among regions. In the military sphere, these kinds of links are being seen in the form of the transfer of military equipment and military technologies among regions, the stationing of units in other countries, and the dispatch of personnel and military assets to other countries, among other developments. There is a possibility that these activities could have an impact on the military balance and the military activities in the region.

It is believed that the aggression against Ukraine and the deterioration of the Middle East situation show the military links between Europe and the Indo-Pacific and between the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific, respectively. One notable example of this is the progress in Russia-North Korea military cooperation. It has become clear that Russia-North Korea military cooperation is progressing, in the form of the procurement of weapons and ammunition made in North Korea, including ballistic missiles, in the aggression against Ukraine and their use against Ukraine, as well as the dispatch of soldiers to Russia by North Korea. In addition, there is a risk that nuclear and missile-related technologies could be transferred to North Korea by Russia, and the possibility that this could have an impact on the military balance in the Indo-Pacific region in the long term has not been denied. As the Middle East situation deteriorates, the United States is taking measures such as the additional deployment of military assets to the Middle East. There is a possibility that the deterioration of the Middle East situation could further distract the attention of the international community from the Indo-Pacific, thus having an impact on the strategic priorities of each country in the long term.

In this way, events in one region can have a multilayered impact on the security environments of other regions. Therefore, as its neighboring countries and others increase their military forces and intensify their military activities, it is necessary for Japan, which is located in the Indo-Pacific, to be aware of the links among the security environments of each region and closely monitor their developments.

Commentary; The Rising Threat of Missiles in the Area around Japan

There are several countries and regions surrounding Japan that have large-scale military forces, including nuclear weapons, and missile forces that can serve as a means of delivering nuclear weapons have increased significantly in both quality and quantity, so missile attacks on Japan are a real threat.

The increase in missile forces is being seen in the form of development of hypersonic weapons, enhancement of precision strike capability, and increase and diversification of launch platforms, among other developments. In particular, hypersonic weapons fly at lower altitudes than normal ballistic missiles, thus delaying detection. It is considered that their great maneuvering capabilities make it difficult to predict their trajectories and impact points, making their interception more difficult. Therefore, the development and deployment of hypersonic weapons are believed to be progressing with the intent to breach the missile defense networks of adversaries.

For example, it has been pointed out that in 2020 China began operating DF-17s, which are said to be medium-range ballistic missiles, as ballistic missiles capable of carrying Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGVs), and it has been pointed out that China may have deployed DF-27s, which are said to be long-range ballistic missiles, as well. North Korea has been repeatedly launching missiles it calls “hypersonic missiles.” Russia is also proceeding with the deployment of the HGV “Avangard” and the Hypersonic Cruise Missile (HCM) “Zircon” and is using the “Zircon” against Ukraine

The Ministry of Defense (the MOD) is working to ceaselessly strengthen the quality and quantity of Japan’s missile defense capabilities. However, it is believed that it will become increasingly difficult to fully respond to this threat with the existing missile defense network alone, particularly if Japan continues to rely solely on the means of missile defense. Therefore, in the event of a missile attack by an adversary, Japan will use its missile defense network to intercept incoming missiles while preventing further armed attacks from the adversary through counterstrike capabilities as an absolute minimum self-defense measure that is unavoidably necessary in cases where it is recognized that no other means are available. Through these initiatives, the MOD hopes to deter the occurrence itself of armed attacks by enhancing Japan’s deterrence and response capabilities.

Section-2. Russia’s Aggression and Defense by Ukraine 

(1). General Situation

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine undermines the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. It is a serious violation of international law, including the United Nations Charter, which prohibits the use of force. Such unilateral changes to the status quo by force have shaken the very foundation of the international order, including in Asia. In addition, brutal and inhumane acts committed by Russian soldiers have been revealed in many parts of Ukraine. The murder of numerous innocent civilians is a grave violation of international humanitarian law (IHL) and a war crime, and utterly unforgivable. After the end of World War II, denial of unilateral changes to the status quo by force became one of the foundations of international order. 

But, Russia, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which is supposed to take primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, is now openly taking military actions challenging international law and the international order, claiming innocent lives and repeatedly making threatening mention about nuclear weapons, which can be called an unprecedented situation. If such Russia’s aggression is tolerated, it could send a message with the wrong implication that unilateral changes to the status quo by force are acceptable in other regions as well, including Asia. Therefore, the international community, including Japan, should never forgive Russia’s action. 

The international community works together in solidarity against this Russia’s aggression by imposing sanctions against Russia and continuing to provide Ukraine with equipment such as tanks, artillery, and ammunition in order to support Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself and eject the Russian military from Ukraine. The future developments surrounding Russia’s aggression against Ukraine remain unpredictable. But Japan needs to monitor the related situation closely with grave concern.

2. Russia’s Aggression against Ukraine and the Future Outlook

1. The Failure of Russia’s Blitzkrieg and Ukraine’s Successful Defense

On February 24, 2022, Russia started full-scale aggression against Ukraine. Mr. Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, clearly expressed his intention to remain in Kyiv from the early stage of the aggression, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and other military and para-military units obstructed the advance of the main units of Armed Forces of Russian Federation (AFRF) at suburbs of the capital, which caused heavy losses for AFRF aiming at taking control of the city within short time period. It is pointed out that Russia’s goal to eliminate the Zelenskyy administration was finally failed after AFU fought off the AFRF in the Kyiv direction in the end of March through the early April. 

The AFU successfully defended Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine as well as a major transportation hub. Meanwhile, it is believed that the Russian forces made territorial gains in southern Ukraine more quickly than in other area. The AFRF occupied Kherson, the capital city of Kherson oblast on the western bank of the Dnieper River in early March 2022, and advanced further west in the direction of Mykolaiv, the capital city of Mykolaiv oblast. It is also believed that the AFRF made territorial gain in the southern Zaporizhzhia oblast and the southern Donetsk oblast on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov. 

2. Redeployment of Russian Forces and Start of Ukrainian Counteroffensive

(1) Redeployment of Troops and Territorial Expansion in Eastern and Southern Ukraine

The AFRF, which failed to take control of the capital Kyiv, on March 25, 2022, announced that previous military action had been at “the first phase of operation” and that the primary goal of its operation would shift to the pursuit of expanded territorial gains in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in eastern Ukraine. 

It is said that after withdrawing its forces from the Kyiv area and regrouping, AFRF seized Sievierodonetsk, the temporary capital city of Luhansk oblast, and its surroundings from late June to early July 2022.

The AFRF concentrated its forces on seizing the Azovstal Iron and Steel Works (AISW) in Mariupol, Ukraine’s last stronghold in the south of Donetsk oblast on the coast of the Sea of Azov. In May 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that the AFRF completed the operation in Mariupol.

As a result of the seizure of Mariupol, Russia secured the whole coast of the Sea of Azov and the land bridge connecting to the Crimean Peninsula.

(2) Start of Ukrainian Counteroffensive 

The AFU continued fierce resistance to the AFRF along the entire front line as well as intensified its attacks on Russian positions from April 2022, which seemed to prepare for the future counteroffensive.

The AFU reportedly sank the Slava-class guided missile cruiser “Moskva,” the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Navy, with a “Neptune,” a domestically produced surface-to-ship cruise missile, in May 2022 in southern Ukraine. In June 2022, General Zaluzhnyi, Commanderin-Chief of the AFU (then), announced that the AFU had attacked AFRF units on Zmiinyi (Snake) Island in the Black Sea, occupied in the early stages of the war and forced them to withdraw from the island.

These Ukrainian attacks degraded the Russian air defense network that had been provided by the vessels of Russian Black Sea Fleet in southern Ukraine, which made it difficult for Russian Air Forces to conduct operations in the area, as a result, it was easier for Ukraine to launch a counteroffensive in the region.

It can further be seen that the AFU used the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) supplied by the United States, in action from late June 2022. In July 2022, the AFU mentioned starting a counteroffensive in the south. The Ukrainian military effectively attacked Russian command posts and logistics bases using a long-range precision strike weapons system such as HIMARS in the region, and interdicted bridges and other crossing sites over the Dnieper River. Difficulties in logistics caused by these attacks decreased fighting capabilities and morale of Russian troops in the north of the river and improved conditions for the Ukrainian counteroffensive. areas in the oblasts of Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson based on the results of a “referendum” conducted in the area in September to ask the people whether their territory was to be “annexed” to Russia or not. 

Ukrainian Military’s High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) being launched (Kherson oblast, southern Ukraine) [EPA-Jiji]

President Putin (center) and the “heads” and “governors” of the eastern and southern four regions of Ukraine, at the ceremony for incorporating the regions (oblasts) (September 2022) [Presidential Executive Office of Russia]

3. Ukrainian Counteroffensive on the Kharkiv and Kherson Fronts in 2022 and Russia’s Response

(1) Full-fledged Ukraine Counteroffensive

In early September 2022, the Ukrainian military conducted a successful counteroffensive in Kharkiv oblast in eastern Ukraine, and regained most of the Russian-occupied area in the oblast. It is probable that the AFU strived to conceal its plan for the counteroffensive in the east, unlike in the south where the counteroffensive was conspicuous. It is also pointed out that the vulnerable Russian forces in the east as a result of the redeployment of its troops from the east to the south to prepare against Ukraine’s southern counteroffensive was a factor in the AFU’s successful counteroffensive.

On the other hand, in the south, as a result of efforts to cut off and undermine each AFRF unit using the Dnieper River, the AFU forced Russian troops to withdraw and successfully regained the northern part of the Dnieper of Kherson oblast including Kherson, the capital city of the oblast, in midNovember of 2022. 

(2) Russia’s Response

Russia responded in various ways to Ukraine’s full-fledged counteroffensive, such as with troop buildups and making its occupation of Ukrainian territory a fait accompli.

With respect to the buildup of forces, President Putin signed executive orders related to partial mobilization in September 2022. Regarding the mobilization, then Defense Minister Shoigu said that he was planning to mobilize some 300,000 reservists.

Regarding Russia’s fait accompli of the occupied areas in Ukraine, Russia illegally “annexed” four regions of the occupied In addition, the AFRF has built multi-layered defenses, including trenches, anti-tank ditches, concrete anti-tank obstacles known as “Dragon’s Teeth” and minefields along the entire contact line in anticipation of counterattacks by the AFU. At the same time, the AFRF intensify bombardments with missiles and loitering munitions all over Ukraine. It is pointed out that this was aimed at depleting Ukraine’s air defense missile reserves, as well as weakening war sustainability and the fighting spirit of Ukrainian people by damaging power grids critical for civilian life in cold winter. While the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) estimates the number of noncombatant victims caused by the Russian attack in Ukraine amount to be over 12,000 as of December 2024, the actual number is possibly much larger as accurate numbers cannot be determined due to the ongoing fighting, and the number is likely still increasing now.

In January 2023, the Russian military and the private military company (PMC) “Wagner” intensified their offensive in the eastern Donetsk oblast. In May 2023, they seemed to have taken control of Bakhmut, a key transportation hub in the oblast. 

“Wagner” fighters holding Russian flags (May 2023) [AFP-Jiji] 

4. Stagnation of Ukrainian Counteroffensive on the Zaporizhzhia Front in 2023 and Russian Eastern Offensive

(1) Provision of Western Weapons to Ukraine and Stagnation of the Ukrainian Counteroffensive

While thrown on the defensive in the face of the offensive on the Bakhmut front by the Russian military and other forces, the Ukrainian military received various equipment from Western countries, including main battle tanks such as the “Leopard 2A6” and “Challenger 2” and air-launched longrange cruise missiles such as the “Storm Shadow.” It seems to have been preparing for a counteroffensive by reorganizing its new units and training its soldiers in Europe.

The Ukrainian military is believed to have launched a counteroffensive in early June 2023 and sequentially recaptured multiple villages; centering on the front of southern Zaporizhzhia oblast. However, the Ukrainian military is also said to have suffered significant losses in personnel and equipment as its advance was blocked by numerous antipersonnel mines and tank mines laid by Russian forces and anti-tank missiles from attack helicopters.

The Ukrainian military’s counteroffensive is reportedly meant to break through the Russian military’s defensive line in the southern Zaporizhzhia oblast and advance southward to the Sea of Azov, thereby cutting off the Russian military’s land logistics route connecting mainland Russia and the Crimean Peninsula. However, it appears that the originally envisioned goals have not been achieved.

The following have been pointed out as reasons behind the stagnation of the Ukrainian military’s counteroffensive: the shortage of firepower, short-range air defense systems to protect advancing ground forces, obstacle-clearing equipment to break through minefields and trained soldiers in the Ukrainian military.

In October 2023, the United States provided Ukraine with the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), a surface-to-surface ballistic missile system. However, no major breakthrough was achieved in ground operations. In November 2023, President Zelenskyy ordered the construction of defensive positions in preparation for a Russian military offensive, and it is believed that the Ukrainian military was on the defensive.

(2) Intensifying Russian Military Offensives and Missile Attacks in Eastern Ukraine

Russian forces allegedly intensified their offensive on the Avdiivka and Bakhmut fronts in Donetsk oblast and the Kupyansk front in Kharkiv oblast from October 2023 and seem to have seized control of Marinka in Donetsk oblast by the end of 2023. In February 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that it had taken control of Avdiivka.

In addition, since late December 2023, the Russian military has intensified its missile attacks across Ukraine, but while the missile attacks in the winter of 2022 targeted power grids, some observers have pointed out that the targets of the missile attacks in the winter of 2023 are military industries, with an eye on a protracted war. This trend continued into the spring of 2024, with a shortage of air defense equipment said to be exacerbating damage to Ukraine.

Damage in Kharkiv, Ukraine (January 2024) [AFP/Jiji Press] 

5 Ongoing Eastern Offensives and the Kharkiv Offensive by Russia, and Cross-border Attacks into Russia by Ukraine in 2024

(1) Ongoing Eastern Offensives and the Start of the Kharkiv Offensive by the AFRF

As the AFU faced a shortage of artillery, its shells, airdefense missiles, and other supplies, the AFRF, after taking control of Avdiivka, continued with its offensives to the west, towards Pokrovsk, a key transportation hub. From April 2024, the AFRF also strengthened its offensive operations against Chasiv Yar, which is located in the highlands of the Bakhmut front.

At the same time, although it was pointed out that support  from the United States had stagnated since December 2023 due to delays in approving the budget, the Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act was enacted at the end of April 2024. Due to the resumption of its support, it has been pointed out that Ukraine’s shortage of air-defense missiles has been mitigated and that the artillery-firepower gap has been reduced.

On May 10, 2024, the AFRF launched an offensive against Kharkiv oblast, reportedly occupying many villages in the border region of the oblast by May 18. No additional occupation by the AFRF has been announced since May 19, suggesting that Russian advances on the Kharkiv front has stalled. It has been pointed out that the purpose of the above offensive was likely to establish a buffer zone to prevent cross-border attacks from Ukrainian to Russian territory and to cause the Ukrainian forces to withdraw from eastern Ukraine, the main fronts of attacks, thereby dispersing them.

(2) Cross-border Attacks into Russia by the AFU and Territorial Expansion in Eastern Ukraine by the AFRF

Around June 2024, in response to Russia’s offensive against Kharkiv, the United States and certain European countries, including the United Kingdom, gave Ukraine permission to attack Russian territory near the border using weapons provided by them other than long-range missiles.

In early August 2024, the AFU launched an attack on the Russian oblast of Kursk, which is adjacent to the border of northeastern Ukraine, by shelling the oblast, deploying unmanned aerial vehicles, and subsequently sending ground forces over the border to occupy Sudzha, Kursk. In February 2025, as the meaning of this cross-border attack, President Zelenskyy proposed a plan to exchange the occupied Kursk oblast area for territory held by Russia if Russia would commence negotiations.

Meanwhile, the Russian military continued its offensive against eastern Ukraine beyond August 2024, while responding to cross-border attacks into Kursk Oblast, steadily expanding its occupied territory, particularly in the direction of Pokrovsk and further south toward the Kurakhove area. In December 2024, the AFRF reached the vicinity of Pokrovsk, and, in January 2025, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that it had taken control of Kurakhove. 

Since late August 2024, the Ukrainian military is believed to have been striving to maintain control over the occupied areas in the Kursk Oblast. However, in March 2025, Russian Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov reported to President Putin that more than 86% of the Ukrainian-occupied territory had been liberated, and further reported at the end of April that the entire region of the oblast had been recaptured. He also stated that North Korean soldiers participated in the recapture of the area. Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces declared that Ukrainian forces were continuing defensive operations in Kursk on the same date. The Ukrainian military reportedly has launched cross-border attacks in the neighboring Belgorod Oblast in March 2025, and in April 2025, President Zelensky acknowledged the presence of Ukrainian forces there.

6. Russia’s Attack on Nuclear Power Stations and Nuclear Facilities and the Situation Surrounding Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Weapons

Russia repeatedly takes dangerous actions around nuclear facilities in ongoing aggression against Ukraine. Russia occupied the Chornobyl nuclear power plant near the Belarusian border in February 2022 and also occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine in March 2022. In addition, Russia attacked the Kharkiv Institute of Physics and Technology (the KIPT), which has experimental reactors and handles nuclear substances, multiple times on and after March.

Regarding nuclear weapons, in September 2022, President Putin stated that Russia would use every possible means to repel threats to the territorial integrity of the nation, including nuclear capabilities. In addition, in May 2024, in response to provocative statements and threats from Western officials, the Russian Ministry of Defence announced its intention to conduct exercises to test non-strategic nuclear forces for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union and then carried them out in three stages from May to July. In November 2024, it was reported that Western countries had given their permission to utilize long-range missiles provided by them in attacks against Russian territory, and Ukraine used ATACMS missiles to launch an attack against Russian territory for the first time. On the day of this attack, Russia announced a revised version of a policy document they had previously indicated, Basic Principles of State Policy of the Russian Federation on Nuclear Deterrence, which is equivalent to its so-called nuclear doctrine. Two days later, as a countermeasure in response to the attack on Russian territory using long-range weapons supplied by Western countries, President Putin announced his intention to attack the Ukrainian city of Dnipro by using newly developed “Oreshnik” intermediate-range ballistic missiles, an attack he called a test. In this way, with nuclear weapons clearly in mind, Russia has repeated behavior and statements, including similar statements from other high officials.

Russia has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine may use chemical and biological weapons. However, the United States and the United Kingdom evaluate it as showing that Russia is preparing for the so-called “false flag campaign.”(1) In March 2022, then U.S. President Joe Biden made a statement to the effect that there are certain signs that President Putin is considering using biological and chemical weapons in Ukraine. In May 2024, the U.S. Department of State pointed to a suspicion that Russia had used chemical weapons. In November 2024 and February 2025, the Technical Secretariat of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) announced the detection of riot control agents in hand grenades and soil samples collected from the battlefield in Ukraine. The use of these agents as a method of warfare is prohibited under the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). 

(1) An operation to create the appearance of receiving political or military attack for the purpose of denouncing the enemy or enhancing the legitimacy of one’s own country

Debris of the ‘Oreshnik’ released by the Security Service of Ukraine [AFP/Jiji Press]

7. Future Outlook

While there is no predicting about what may happen in the future regarding aggression against Ukraine, there are many indications about the strategy, tactics and human and material war sustainability of both the AFRF and the AFU which may impact future developments.

Some difficulties in the chain of command of the AFRF were indicated from the very early stages. It has been pointed out that, at the start of aggression, the AFRF allocated the chain of command and assigned troops of a Joint Strategic Command (Military District) to each operational front as it is in peacetime and thus did not have a centralized command chain covering the entire projected force (2) consisting of mechanized infantry forces said to be as many as 200,000-strong and missile units belonging to the Army, Navy, or Air Force, as well as sea power and air power. In early April 2022, a Joint Task Force Commander was reportedly appointed to command all actions of the AFRF. This is seen as a measure to improve cooperation among services and theaters. Also, in January 2023, Russia announced that General Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the AFRF, was named as the Joint Task Force Commander, aiming to improve cooperation among services, the quality of logistics support and command efficiency of the unit. In May of 2023, Prigozhin’s private military company “Wagner” is said to have contributed to the capture of Bakhmut in the eastern Donetsk oblast by deploying numerous troops. However, subsequent discord between the military and “Wagner” led to Prigozhin instigating an “armed rebellion” in June 2023, allowing “Wagner” to advance into Russia. At one point, the “Wagner” offensive reportedly came within 200 km of Moscow, but the situation was brought under control through the mediation of the Belarusian president. In an effort to prevent the recurrence of such an armed uprising, Russia’s Defence Ministry has been encouraging former “Wagner” soldiers to sign contracts with the military. It has also been pointed out that the Ministry is trying to centralize the chain of command by managing other private military companies under the control of the General Staff Office.

The AFU continues fighting until today undauntedly against the AFRF which has superior quality and larger numbers. Continuation of fighting is made possible by several factors such as a number of reservists with combat experience derived from the eastern front campaign since 2014, significant progress in training non-commissioned officers who assume leading roles in battle realized with the reorganization of the Defense Ministry and the AFU aiming to achieve the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) standard and the introduction of rapid and highly accurate fire coordination systems based on commercial off-the-shelf technologies including the command and control support software “GIS Arta” and situational awareness system “Delta.”

For human war sustainability, it is pointed out that the number of casualties was about 480,000 for the AFU as of September 2024, and over 648,000 for the AFRF as of October 2024 (3) . As a result of the fighting dragging on, it seems that both Russia and Ukraine are facing an increasingly serious shortage of personnels. In June 2023, President Putin signed a law allowing prisoners and suspects, excluding felons, to sign military service contracts. In October 2023, the military personnel registration regulations were revised to include a new provision for “special military personnel registration,” which has facilitated the enlistment of prisoners without requiring a physical examination. Such measures have created an environment for deploying prisoners more quickly in actual combat operations. In addition, in July 2024, President Putin signed an executive order to approximately double the enlistment bonus paid by the federal government to newly contracted military personnel. This seems to be part of the government’s efforts to secure personnel by increasing the number of contracted military personnel.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, in December 2023, President Zelenskyy revealed that the military is requesting the mobilization of an additional 500,000 troops. In addition, in January 2025, General Syrskyi Commander-in-Chief of the AFU stated that such mobilization alone is not enough to satisfy the needs of the front line and indicated that it is also necessary to transfer personnel from other divisions to infantry, saying they are taking steps to lower logistics, support, and servicing components to sustainable level. Ukraine also faces problems that include the desertion of soldiers, and it has been pointed out that, last year, many members of the newly established 155th Separate Mechanized Brigade deserted. In November 2024, President Zelenskyy signed a law that would protect first-time deserters from criminal liability if they voluntarily returned to their units. This seems to suggest that Ukraine is struggling to secure personnel.

It is pointed out that Russia’s war sustainability for material has been undermined by hindered equipment acquisition caused by economic sanctions against the country. Even in this situation, the Russian military maintains its power by various means, such as the ammunition industry operating around the clock, diverting missiles not used for ground attacks, the acquisition of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) made in Iran, taking over tanks from Belarus, and the procurement of ammunition and missiles from North Korea. Furthermore, it is pointed out that Russia is capable of prolonged battle, even under sanctions, because it has sufficient production capacities for equipment including ammunition belonging to the technical scope of the former Soviet Union.

In contrast, it is believed that the Ukrainian military’s equipment consists mainly of former Soviet weapons and arms supplied by Western countries and others. In terms of equipment manufactured in the former Soviet Union, only limited parts and ammunition can be acquired from outside of Russia. In addition, although some equipment can be repaired or acquired domestically, it is difficult to carry out repair or acquisition, because the major ammunition industrial cities, such as Kharkiv and Dnipro, are within the attack range of the AFRF. Therefore, support from foreign countries is important in the acquisition of equipment and ammunition as well as in education and training to change over former Soviet Union equipment to Western equipment to maintain war sustainability.

There have been movements toward a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. It is announced that the United States has conducted multiple meetings with Russia and with Ukraine to discuss the situation in Ukraine since February 2025. However, progress remains uncertain, and hostilities between Russian and Ukrainian forces are expected to persist even as ceasefire discussions continue.

• (2) In addition to the AFRF, paramilitary forces including the following are participating in the aggression: the National Guard of the Russian Federation (former Internal Troops of Russia), the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, and a troop called “Kadyrovites” under the control of the Head of the Chechen Republic Kadyrov.

• (3) According to the Wall Street Journal, September 17, 2024 (announced by the UK Ministry of Defence on October 7, 2024)

Prosecutors examining the wreckage of a missile allegedly made by North Korea used in an attack on Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine (Kharkiv, Ukraine) (January 2024) [AFP-Jiji].

SECTION-3. Effects of Russian Aggression against Ukraine on International Affairs and How Various Countries Respond to It

1. General Situation

In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Ukraine has strongly resisted, and the international community has imposed strong coordinated sanctions against Russia. In Europe, the security environment has reached a major turning point in the wake of the aggression against Ukraine, with countries not only increasing their defense spending but also Finland and Sweden, which had previously advocated policies of neutrality, joining NATO. Clearly, the aggression by Russia, which saw NATO’s eastward expansion as a threat to itself, prompted European countries to shift their security policies in this manner.

In this view, Japan needs to pay attention to the future developments of the situation in Europe, including its strategic effects and recognize that European-Atlantic security and Indo-Pacific security are indivisible. This is because Japan is a close ally of the United States, a NATO member state and is located on the opposite side of Europe across the Eurasian Continent where Russia also sits. In addition, the change in the European situation in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine can also have an impact on global affairs including developments of the strategic competition between the United States and China and impact on Asia. In any case, it is necessary to monitor the related situations closely with great interest.

2. How NATO Member States and Other Countries Deal with the Situation

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine prompted a rapidly growing alarm amid European countries, and Russia’s aggressive actions are being viewed as the most severe and direct threat to European and northern Atlantic security. (4) With renewed awareness of the threat of Russia, NATO member states direct their efforts at enhancing defense cooperation under the collective defense system of NATO and pursue the development of defense capabilities in each country. For example, the unit scale in the eastern direction is expanded as needed and an agreement has been made to put 300,000 and more troops into high readiness conditions in place of NATO Response Forces.

Several nations including NATO member states provide equipment, training support and the like to Ukraine depending on the progress of the war. At the beginning of the war, the donor countries provided portable antitank missiles and man-portable surface-to-air missiles that seemed to contribute to preventing front-line expansion by delaying the advancement of Russian military armored units and reducing the strength of airborne troops. After the AFU stopped Russia’s full-scale aggression, the countries moved towards providing large equipment that helps suppress and secure wide areas in ground fighting, such as tanks, armored vehicles and howitzers, for the Ukrainian military’s counteroffensive. In January 2023, each country announced for the first time the provision of tanks and infantry fighting vehicles not made by the former Soviet Union, beginning with the delivery of German tanks to Ukraine by Poland in February of the same year

They also came to provide longer-range artillery to attack enemy bases, following the concentration of AFRF troops in the eastern Ukraine region. Furthermore, the handing over of air defense systems from various countries rapidly progressed as a result of Russian armed forces commencing missile attacks targeting the entirety of Ukraine, including civil facilities, starting in October 2022. It was also reported that an air defense system called “Patriot,” capable of coping with ballistic missiles, was provided.

Some NATO member states stated that they would deliver fighter jets made by the former Soviet Union in March 2023 and the United Kingdom and the Netherlands stated in May that the two countries would establish an “international union” for fighter jets acquisition and flight training. Furthermore, the United States stated in the G7 Hiroshima summit meeting that it would support the multilateral initiative for the flight training of fourth-generation fighter jets including F-16 fighters. By early 2024, the Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, and Norway offered to provide F-16 fighters. In August 2024, President Zelenskyy announced that F-16 fighters had been provided and that Ukraine had commenced related operations. It appears that, by January 2025, fighters had already been provided by the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway.

provided by the Netherlands, Denmark, and Norway. In addition, in November 2024, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France apparently granted their permission to use long-range missiles on Russian territory. The cumulative security support from the United States to Ukraine since the Biden administration amounts to at least USD 66.5 billion, including USD 65.9 billion announced after the start of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine (as of January 9, 2025). In addition, the United States provides not only various kinds of equipment in large quantities but also familiarization training for newly delivered equipment and boot camp training for newly enlisted soldiers and other personnel outside Ukraine.

The United Kingdom also provided continuous support to Ukraine through equipment support and dispatching training instructors with the United States and other countries from when Russia “annexed” the Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and since the regime change from the Johnson administration to the Sunak administration, it has continuously and actively supported Ukraine by providing a variety of equipment and conducting boot camp training. In particular, the United Kingdom took the plunge to announce that it would provide its main battle tanks in January 2023 ahead of any other country. It also provided air-launched long-range cruise missiles. Subsequently, the Starmer administration stated that it would strengthen its support further and announced that it would provide a new mobile air defense system in 2025. In addition, similarly to the United States, the United Kingdom has been actively disclosing information about the Russian military movement to counter Russia’s disinformation and contain the action of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (AFRF) through announcements by high officials and posting on social media.

France, together with Germany, has been acting as a mediator between Russia and Ukraine in the “Normandy Format (5) ,” to peacefully resolve the conflict in eastern Ukraine. In addition, France has announced the delivery of equipment such as wheeled combat vehicles, missile air-defense systems and air-launched long-range cruise missiles to Ukraine.

Germany drastically changed its defense strategy after Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, announcing to deliver infantry fighting vehicles and surface-to-air missile systems and started to deliver its main battle tanks directly to Ukraine as well as permit the transfer of German-made main battle tanks from third-party countries to Ukraine in January 2023. Since then, Germany has been continuously supplying artillery shells and air defense missiles.

Canada has been providing training support to the AFU since 2015. Since Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Canada has been actively supporting Ukraine, such as by promising to provide military support of more than CAD 4.5 billion as of April 2025.

The EU has also been providing military support to Ukraine. As of May 2025, the total amount of support has reached $54 billion, including $6.6 billion provided through the European Peace Facility, an EU fund. In March 2025, the EU also announced plans to supply Ukraine with over 2 million artillery shells annually.

In December 2024, NATO Secretary General Rutte announced the establishment of the ‘NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU)’ at a U.S. military base in Germany, and stated that the organization had already commenced operations. As a result, control of the coordination of Ukrainian military support by Western countries was transferred from the United States to NATO. In addition, technical support provided by private companies to Ukraine is also attracting attention. Satellite internet services using a satellite constellation provided by U.S. companies in response to the request from the Ukrainian government are used not only as a means of communication for the Ukrainian people but also are utilized to operate the Ukrainian military’s unmanned aircraft. Moreover, it is pointed out that some European and U.S. IT/security companies have been supporting Ukraine’s cybersecurity since before aggression against Ukraine began, and have successfully reduced and localized damage from Russian cyber-attacks.

While players such as NATO member states and other countries moved towards supporting Ukraine, some countries are taking their own measures. Türkiye, which has deep relations with both Russia and Ukraine, shows consideration for Russia to some extent. Concretely, Türkiye declares support for Ukraine while basically not implementing economic sanctions against Russia. Additionally, Hungary, a NATO member state highly dependent on Russia economically, has adopted a conciliatory stance toward Russia and has not supplied Ukraine with weapons, citing national interests.

• (4) NATO adopted a new Strategic Concept for the first time since 2010 in the summit meeting held in June 2022. In the previous strategic concept, the EuropeAtlantic region was considered peaceful and the possibility of an attack on the NATO territory was considered small; however, in the current strategic concept, the Europe-Atlantic region is not considered peaceful and the possibility of an attack on the member states’ territories is deemed impossible to rule out. Furthermore, Russia, with which a “genuine strategic partnership” was pursued in the previous strategic concept, has been positioned as “the most serious and direct threat to the security of the member states and the peace and stability of the Europe-Atlantic region.”

• (5) The framework of dialogue between Ukraine, Russia, France, and Germany that have had consultations for a settlement of the situation based on the Minsk agreements since 2014 when the Ukraine situation deteriorated.

3. How Other Regions Respond

On February 23, 2023, ahead of the first anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for, among other things, the immediate cessation of the invasion. A total of 141 countries—over 70% of all member states—voted in favor of the resolution. On the other hand, in addition to Russia, some countries and regions do not sympathize with this movement. For example, six countries and regions including Belarus and North Korea were against the draft resolution, and thirty-two countries including India and China abstained from voting.

North Korea is showing its stance of standing by Russia, for example, as it voted against the UN General Assembly’s resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine and claims that the United States and other Western countries are to be blamed for the conflict in Ukraine. It was also revealed that missiles provided by North Korea to Russia since the end of December 2023 were used against Ukraine. In addition, it was confirmed in October 2024 that North Korean soldiers had been dispatched to eastern Russia and then participated in fighting against Ukraine. Japan continues to strongly condemn North Korea’s deployment of troops to Russia, its participation in combat operations against Ukraine, and its transfer of weapons, including ballistic missiles, to Russia, stating that such actions further exacerbate the situation in Ukraine and constitute violations of relevant UN Security Council resolutions that comprehensively prohibit the transfer or procurement of weapons and related materials involving North Korea.

Since the United States’ withdrawal from the nuclear agreement in 2018, Iran has intensified its confrontational stance toward the West, while strengthening its ties with Russia, particularly in the economic and military fields. Although Iran advocates a diplomatic resolution to the invasion of Ukraine, it has shown a certain degree of understanding toward Russia’s position and has criticized the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and its allies. 

The United States announced in July 2022 Iran’s plan to provide UAVs to Russia and in September 2022, pointed out that Russia was using Iran-made UAVs for attacks as well as Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR). The Ukrainian military also announced that Russia conducted attacks in various points of Ukraine using Iranian UAVs. To this, Iran claims that the delivery of Iranian UAVs to Russia was carried out before the aggression against Ukraine and suggests that their purpose was not for use in war with Ukraine. In February 2023, William Burns, then Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), pointed out that Russia is investigating the possibility of supporting Iran’s missile plan and providing fighter jets in return for Iran’s support. In September 2024, he also indicated that Russia had received ballistic missiles from Iran and that the progress of cooperation between the two countries must be closely observed.

China avoids direct criticism of Russia in respect of the aggression, requesting “self-restraint and dialogue” to both Russia and Ukraine and takes a standpoint from which China will play constructive roles in its own ways towards a solution to the Ukraine issues. However, China insists that Russia’s actions are caused by the “Cold War mentality” of the United States and other NATO countries and that it understands Russia’s reasonable concerns about security issues and criticizes sanctions against Russia and equipment delivery to Ukraine from Western countries. In September 2022, President Xi Jinping, during the first in-person China-Russia summit since the invasion began, expressed strong support for issues related to each other’s core interests. Furthermore, during the China-Russia summit held online in December of the same year, Xi stated that China would continue to uphold an objective and impartial stance on the invasion of Ukraine and would play a constructive role in promoting international unity and cooperation toward a peaceful resolution of the Ukraine crisis. Furthermore, he stated that China will play constructive roles in peace negotiations and reconstruction after the conflict in a document titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis” published in February 2023. During his visit to Russia in March of the same year, Xi held talks with Putin and released a joint statement. In the statement, Xi positively evaluated Russia’s commitment to resuming the early resumption of peace negotiations and expressed opposition to unilateral sanctions not based on UN Security Council resolutions. In October the same year, President Putin visited China for the first time since the aggression against Ukraine and held a summit meeting with President Xi Jinping, mutually confirming the deepening relationship of trust between the two countries. Russia, which is internationally isolated with its aggression against Ukraine will find its political and military cooperation with China more important than ever. In addition, it has been pointed out that China is boosting Russia’s war sustainability by transferring dual-use items (items that can be used for both civilian and military applications) to the country.

On the other hand, it is seen that Western countries are taking action to contain China which is deepening cooperation with Russia. In September 2022, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg pointed out that China continued to cooperate with Russia and opposed expanding NATO even after the aggression against Ukraine and the notion that NATO should regard China as a challenge to international security was adequately reasonable. The United States added Chinese entities including companies regarded as providing satellite images to Russian private military company Wagner to the list of entities subject to regulations for export from the United States. Furthermore, Antony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State (then), warned Wang Yi, Director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, during their meeting in February 2023 that delivery of lethal weapons to Russia would have serious consequences for the U.S.-China relationship. Japan, as a country neighboring both countries, must continue to monitor with concern the trend of cooperation between the two countries, which has deepened further since Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.

India emphasized the need for an immediate stop to hostile operations and violence, as well as the need for a solution through diplomatic means and dialogue regarding the aggression against Ukraine and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated “Now is not the age of war” to President Putin at the Indo-Russia Summit Meeting in September 2022, while India, which has traditionally deep relations with Russia, avoids explicit criticism of Russia. As stated above, India maintains a strong military cooperative relationship with Russia and responses such as increasing the import of Russian crude oil with lower prices due to the economic sanctions have been observed. Close attention should be paid to India’s movement in future.

💬 Analysis & Commentary by Ghost Miracle News World

This section reflects independent analysis, interpretation, and contextual explanation based on the official “Defense of Japan 2025” White Paper.  

All views and explanations are original and intended for educational and journalistic understanding.

Conclusion: Forging Japan's Resolve – From Reactive Defense to Proactive Deterrence in an Interlinked World

As the dust of Russia's protracted aggression against Ukraine settles into a grim stalemate—punctuated by Kursk incursions, Oreshnik missile tests, and North Korean troop entanglements—the contours of a transformed global order emerge with crystalline clarity. What began as a hubristic blitzkrieg in Kyiv's shadow has morphed into a grinding war of attrition, exacting over 648,000 Russian casualties and 480,000 Ukrainian losses by late 2024, while shattering illusions of invincibility for great powers. Ukraine's improbable resilience, fueled by NATO-standard reforms, Western largesse exceeding $120 billion in multifaceted aid, and innovative adaptations like GIS Arta fire coordination, has not only reclaimed swaths of territory but redefined asymmetric warfare's playbook. Yet, Russia's adaptations—centralized command under Gerasimov, Wagner's absorption, and sanction-defying procurement from Pyongyang and Tehran—signal a foe undeterred, its nuclear posturing a perennial Damoclean sword.

This European cataclysm's echoes resound deafeningly in the Indo-Pacific, where Japan confronts an amplified mirror of threats: unilateral encroachments, hybrid encroachments, and hypersonic shadows that render traditional defenses obsolete. The war's lessons are unequivocal—tolerating aggression invites proliferation, as seen in Iran's drone swarms and China's dual-use exports bolstering Moscow's sinews. NATO's phoenix-like resurgence, with Finland and Sweden's accession, 300,000 troops on high alert, and the NSATU hub streamlining aid, affirms the indivisibility of Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security. For Japan, a linchpin U.S. ally astride Eurasia's fulcrum, this mandates a paradigm shift: from siloed vigilance to holistic integration. The U.S.'s $66.5 billion Ukraine commitment underscores alliance burdensharing's vitality, yet Middle Eastern distractions highlight the perils of overstretch—Japan must amplify its contributions, from QUAD interoperability to AUKUS-inspired tech-sharing, to anchor deterrence.

Domestically, Japan's Ministry of Defense must accelerate its multi-layered response. The existing missile defense architecture—bolstered by Aegis Ashore and Patriot batteries—must evolve into a synergistic shield-offense matrix, incorporating counterstrike enablers as "unavoidably necessary" self-defense. Investing in hypersonic countermeasures, cyber-hardened infrastructures, and AI-driven situational awareness will counter gray-zone salients, while economic security imperatives—securing supply chains against coercion—redefine resilience as holistic. The JSDF's FY2024 end-strength, with 247,000 personnel and 1,500 combat aircraft, pales against neighbors' swells; targeted expansions in maritime patrol and rapid-reaction brigades are non-negotiable.

Internationally, divergent responses demand nuanced diplomacy. While 141 UN nations decried the invasion, abstainers like India and enablers like China expose multipolarity's fractures—Beijing's "constructive role" rhetoric masks economic ballast to Putin, risking a Sino-Russian axis that tilts Asia's balance. Japan must counter this through value-aligned coalitions: deepening CPTPP economic ties to inoculate against coercion, and trilateral U.S.-Japan-Philippines patrols to deter South China Sea adventurism. North Korea's belligerence—missile barrages and Kursk deployments—necessitates UNSC enforcement, while Iran's UAV proliferation calls for G7 sanctions harmonization.

Looking ahead, the Ukraine quagmire's denouement—be it frozen lines or fragile ceasefire—will calibrate global fault lines. Ceasefire overtures since February 2025, mediated by Washington, offer glimmers, yet persistent hostilities portend escalation risks, from chemical false flags to tactical nukes. For Japan, the imperative is clairvoyant preparedness: scenario-based wargaming interregional spillovers, fostering public discourse on deterrence's costs, and championing a rules-reaffirming summitry. In this interlinked maelstrom, passivity invites peril; resolve begets stability.

Japan stands not as a bystander but as a vanguard—its archipelago a sentinel for the free world's eastern flank. By weaving Ukraine's tenacity into its strategic fabric, Tokyo can deter tomorrow's aggressors, ensuring the Indo-Pacific remains a realm of prosperity, not predation. The era of crisis demands not lamentation, but leadership: Japan, rise to it.

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