TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday to meet Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky, an unexpected and rare visit from a Japanese leader that underscores Tokyo’s commitment to Ukraine in the face of to the Russian invasion.
Fumio Kishida was so far the only leader of a member country of the Group of Seven (G7) not to have visited Ukraine following the offensive launched by Moscow in February 2022.
The Japanese Prime Minister visited the town of Boutcha, where more than 400 civilians were killed last year and which has since become a symbol of the brutality of Russian troops. He laid a wreath in front of a church before observing a minute of silence.
“The world was stunned to see innocent civilians killed in Boutcha a year ago. I felt great anger at this atrocity while visiting this place,” Fumio Kishida said.
“I would like to extend my condolences to all the victims and injured on behalf of Japanese nationals,” he continued. “Japan will continue to help Ukraine with the greatest efforts to restore peace.”
This surprise visit by the Japanese leader comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow on Monday where he met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, with whom further talks are scheduled for the day.
In what may be a reaction from Moscow to Fumio Kishida’s visit to Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that two Russian strategic bombers flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours.
Japan will host the next G7 summit in May in Fumio Kishida’s hometown of Hiroshima.
The Japanese leader had declared in January, during a visit to Washington, that this summit was to highlight the will of the allies to preserve the international order and the rule of law after the invasion of Ukraine.
Fumio Kishida’s trip to Kyiv was kept secret until the last minute for security reasons. It is rare for a Japanese leader to visit another country unexpectedly.
According to the Japanese public television channel NHK, citing unidentified sources, Fumio Kishida took the direction of Ukraine from India where he spoke with his counterpart Narendra Modi.
The Japanese Foreign Ministry said Fumio Kishida would also visit Poland before returning to Tokyo on Thursday.
(Report Junko Fujita, Yoshifumi Takemoto and Kentaro Sugiyama; French version Jean Terzian and Blandine Hénault, edited by Kate Entringer)
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