Ukraine: Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Fumio Kishida will meet with Ukrainian President Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky to express “solidarity and unwavering support,” according to Japan’s foreign ministry.

As Japan will be hosting the G7 summit in May 2023, Mr. Kishida, the last G7 leader to visit the war-torn nation, has come under increasing pressure to go. The Japanese PM has stated repeatedly that a trip to Kyiv was “under consideration,” despite the fact that logistical and security issues were allegedly a significant barrier.

Mr. Kishida was in India and was supposed to fly back to Tokyo, but instead, he went to Poland, where he is said to have boarded a train to enter Ukraine. The PM will provide “the solidarity and unshakable support of Japan and the G7, headed by Japan” and show “respect for the fortitude and tenacity of the Ukrainian people,” per the foreign ministry.

The foreign ministry said that Mr. Kishida will likely go back to Poland on the 22nd of March 2023 for the conference before returning to Tokyo. Japanese media broke the news of the trip first. The reporters in Poland captured footage of a car carrying the premier in the town of Przemysl, from which foreign officials frequently board trains bound for Ukraine.

As US President Mr. Joe Biden made an unexpected detour in Kyiv to meet Mr. Zelensky in February 2023, Mr. Kishida became the only G7 leader who had not been to the Ukrainian capital. The trip for Mr. Kishida, who will visit an active warzone for the first time since World War II, reportedly raised security concerns for Japanese officials.

The Group of Seven countries, who have agreed on their approach to penalising Russia, are hosted by Japan this year. In May 2023, the nations will gather in Hiroshima for a summit, and Mr. Kishida is reportedly considering inviting Mr. Zelensky to participate.

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