According to The Washington Post, the United States is asking Japan to provide Ukraine with missiles for the Patriot air defence system amid new problems with US aid to Kyiv.
Japan can help Ukraine with Patriot missiles
As journalists have found out, in a few days the Japanese authorities intend to approve policy changes that will allow Tokyo to export several dozen missiles for the Patriot air defence system to the United States, which will replenish Washington's stockpile.
It is important to understand that this will increase the flexibility of the United States in supplying more modern air defence equipment to Ukraine.
In addition, it is noted that Japan produces missiles for the Patriot under a licence from Raytheon.
Anonymous sources draw attention to the fact that these changes in Japan's export rules will not contain a direct reference to the Patriot system, but will correspond to the main request of the team of the American leader Joe Biden.
How the US managed to agree with Japan on aid to Ukraine
According to preliminary data, Japan will officially announce the changes to the legislation on 22 December.
Despite the fact that Tokyo has not yet presented a timetable, insiders say that a decision will be made in the near future.
Joe Biden raised the issue during his meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David in August, during the historic trilateral summit that also included South Korea, and at the San Francisco Economic Summit last month.
The journalists also managed to find out that Seoul secretly promised to supply Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds last year - more than all European countries combined.
The publication's insiders assure that a significant portion of this ammunition has already been transferred.
