TOKYO, 15 March 2022, (TON): Party lawmakers said that Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is set to begin internal discussions on nuclear deterrence, taking up the controversial issue of nuclear sharing with the United States.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its threat of using nuclear weapons have prompted calls from conservative members including former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for Japan to discuss the topic.

The party sources said “the LDP’s panel on national security will hear expert opinions on U.S. and European nuclear deterrence strategies on Wednes-day and exchange views.”

Japan, which suffered the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, upholds the three principles of not possessing, not producing and not allowing nuclear weapons on its soil.

For years, it has relied on the U.S. nuclear umbrella for deterrence.

Designed to provide collective security for its members, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has nuclear sharing arrangements, under which non-nuclear states host U.S. nuclear weapons for use in the event of a war.

A few days after Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, Abe said Japan should start discussing whether to seek a nuclear sharing arrangement similar to NATO’s, without a taboo.