Japan will sign for the first time a joint statement to be issued at the United Nations calling on countries not to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances, government sources said Thursday.

Similar U.N. statements have been drafted three times before, but Japan refused to endorse them on grounds that it would contradict its policy of relying on the U.S. nuclear umbrella, the sources said.

Tokyo will join more than 80 other countries in upholding the statement, which might be released at the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly on Oct. 17, because it has confirmed with New Zealand, one of the drafters of the initiative, that the document will not be legally binding, the sources said.

Kyodo News, October 11, 2013