Tokyo, 24 December, /AJMEDIA/
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is arranging to visit Britain, France and Italy in the first half of January, hoping to lay the groundwork for a successful Group of Seven nations summit in Hiroshima in May, sources with knowledge of the matter said.
Kishida met with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni at last month’s Group of 20 summit in Indonesia, but did not get to hold separate talks with them, the sources said.
By sitting down with some of his G7 counterparts, the Japanese leader is expected to seek alignment on issues to which he attaches particular importance, such as the war in Ukraine and his vision of a “world without nuclear weapons.”
Kishida initially intended to go to the United States in the first half of January to hold talks with President Joe Biden, but has been rescheduling the trip at Washington’s convenience.
