Tokyo, 24 September, /AJMEDIA/
Japan’s full support for Ukraine will continue, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who will step down in the coming days, pledged Monday during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
On the fringes of annual high-level U.N. events in New York, Kishida and Zelenskyy agreed that the countries will remain in close coordination, with the premier welcoming their recent conclusion of talks in principle on an accord needed to enable sharing of sensitive information, according to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
It said Kishida also touched on the Japan External Trade Organization’s plan to open an office next month in Kyiv.
At the outset of the meeting, which lasted about 30 minutes, Zelenskyy awarded Kishida the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 1st class, Ukraine’s highest honor for foreign citizens, for his leadership in ramping up global support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, the ministry said.
As Russia’s war against Ukraine, launched in February 2022, drags on, Japan has committed to providing various types of nonlethal equipment and technology to the war-torn country to help its civilians and aid reconstruction efforts.
Japan has been working closely with the United States and European countries in trying to end the war, but the Asian country’s pacifist Constitution restricts military assistance.
In a related development, the foreign ministers of the Group of Seven gathered in New York with their counterpart from Ukraine.
They released a joint statement calling for international support in repairing Ukraine’s damaged energy sector, warning that the country could face its “harshest” situation with regard to access to critical utilities during this winter since at least its independence.
Kishida, who took office in October 2021, is due to step down as prime minister following Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, set to be held on Friday. He announced in August that he would not run in the election.
Before leaving for Tokyo on Monday night, Kishida also held talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.