Japan's Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa says his country wants to secure its cooperation with NATO to strengthen international order based on the rule of law.

Hayashi was speaking to reporters before a meeting of foreign ministers of the organization in Brussels, Belgium, that began around 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, local time. Japan is a partner of NATO.

He said the international community stands at a historical turning point, and that he wants to highlight the importance of Japan-NATO cooperation to uphold and strengthen a free and open international order and the rule of law.

In the meeting, Hayashi is believed to be briefing his counterparts on Prime Minister Kishida Fumio's visit to Ukraine last month.

Kishida met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and conveyed Tokyo's intention to support the provision of non-lethal equipment to Ukraine through NATO trust funds.

Hayashi is also thought to be referring to Japan's new national security strategy, which was revised last year amid an increasingly severe security environment in East Asia, with China getting more assertive and North Korea carrying out repeated missile launches.