Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has disclosed plans to promote greater security cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. These plans are apparently aimed at countering moves by Russia, China and others.

Kishida spoke at a joint news conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington on Thursday.

Kishida announced that Japan will send an expert to a NATO research facility to strengthen measures to deal with disinformation.

He said Japan will host an international conference of NATO members and other relevant countries by the end of March to discuss how to address this challenge.

The prime minister said Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force will conduct a joint exercise with NATO units in the Euro-Atlantic region.

Kishida said Japan will take part in a NATO-led defense exercise to bolster capabilities to cope with cyberattacks. He added that Japan and NATO will reinforce their procedures for sharing highly sensitive intelligence.

Kishida said the security environments of the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions are now inseparable. He highlighted that Japan wants to work with NATO in various aspects, in line with their partnership arrangement.