Japan wants to support Ukraine in reconstruction and talk about security guarantees

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Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi in Bucha: Prayers and talks about money and guarantees

Photo: Kyodo News / IMAGO

Ukraine wants to start bilateral talks with Japan on security guarantees. He agreed this with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi during his visit to Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced. The Group of Seven leading Western industrialized nations, which includes Japan, said in July that its members would begin bilateral talks on security guarantees with Ukraine.

During his visit to Ukraine, Hayashi also held talks on the reconstruction of the country, according to Kiev. It was about "the prospects for cooperation in the reconstruction of housing, in ensuring global food security, in supporting small and medium-sized enterprises and in humanitarian demining," said Ukrainian Prime Minister Denis Shmyhal on Saturday in Kiev after the meeting.

Large Japanese companies are interested in "long-term cooperation with Ukraine," Shmyhal continued. Chief diplomat Hayashi was accompanied on his trip by Japanese business representatives, and after the meeting with Shmyhal, a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba was planned.

Japan has joined Western sanctions against Russia, but so far it has not supplied weapons to Kyiv. The country's pacifist constitution obliges the rulers in Tokyo to limit their military capabilities to mere defense.

However, Tokyo has provided Ukraine with humanitarian aid, military defense equipment and financial support. According to Prime Minister Shmyhal, Tokyo has so far granted his country the equivalent of around 1.96 billion euros in financial aid to support the Ukrainian state budget. Japan, which is otherwise restrictive on immigration, also took in Ukrainian refugees in the country.

Yoshimasa Hayashi's visit was unannounced. It is the first visit by a Japanese foreign minister to Ukraine since Moscow launched the invasion war in February last year. According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo, Hayashi was also expected to attend a ceremony for the provision of Japanese cranes designed to eliminate unexploded bombs.

Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid a surprise visit to Kyiv in March ahead of the G7 summit in Hiroshima. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky personally traveled to Hiroshima on the final day of the G7 summit. The G7 leaders promised to support Ukraine "for as long as necessary" in its defensive struggle.

feb/AFP/Reuters/dpa