Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on reports published by the British newspaper Financial Times that French President Emmanuel Macron is opposed to plans to open a NATO office in Tokyo, TASS reports.

The Foreign Minister said that he is aware of these reports, but he intends to refrain from announcing his point of view on this matter. Hayashi stressed that the issue of opening a liaison office of the North Atlantic Alliance in Japan is currently being considered within NATO structures.

Earlier, the Financial Times reported that President Emmanuel Macron does not approve of NATO's plans to open a representative office in Japan, as he believes that the alliance should focus on the North Atlantic region. According to eight interlocutors of the newspaper, the position of Paris complicates the ongoing negotiations on the opening of the first NATO office in the Indo-Pacific region (ITR). France believes that such intentions could complicate relations between European countries and China.