Japan and NATO agreed Tuesday to closely collaborate to address"security challenges" such as the Middle East crisis, Russia's war against Ukraine and North Korea's past abductions of Japanese nationals.

During their talks in The Hague, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte also affirmed that they would work to elevate their cooperation to"a new height" in various fields including defense industries, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said.

The talks came as the United States, a NATO member and Japan's close ally, conducted airstrikes on key Iranian nuclear facilities amid the conflict between Israel and Iran, although the regional rivals said earlier Tuesday they had agreed to a cease-fire.

Russia and North Korea have been strengthening their military partnership as Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine -- which began in 2022 -- drags on and Pyongyang continues its missile and nuclear development.

NATO has been stepping up cooperative ties in recent years with its Indo-Pacific partners of Japan, Australia, New Zealand and South Korea, sharing the view that security in the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific regions is inseparable.

Iwaya met with Rutte on the sidelines of an ongoing NATO summit as a stand-in for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who canceled his planned visit to the Dutch city at the last minute due to the absence of other Indo-Pacific leaders and concerns over the Middle East situation.

© KYODO