Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the G7 summit in Hiroshima.
Hiroshima, Japan- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will hold a bilateral meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his presence at the Group of Seven summit, Japan’s foreign ministry has announced.
Zelenskyy will also participate in a meeting on peace and security with the country’s G7 leaders and other representatives at the Hiroshima summit, Japan’s foreign ministry said Saturday.
The Ukrainian leader is expected to arrive in Hiroshima on Saturday after finishing a surprise visit to an Arab League summit in Saudi Arabia, where he called on Middle East leaders to “help protect our people, including [the] Ukrainian Muslim Community”.
Earlier this week, Zelenskyy conducted a whistle-stop tour to Italy, the Vatican, Germany, France and the United Kingdom, where political leaders pledged to help replenish Ukraine’s depleted stockpiles of missiles, tanks and drones.
Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, confirmed reports on Friday that Zelenskyy would attend the G7 summit in person after early indications that the Ukrainian leader would only attend the meeting online.
Zelenskyy’s trip to Japan will be his first visit to Asia since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Kishida, the host of the G7, has taken by far the strongest stance against the Russian war in Ukraine among Asian leaders, imposing sanctions on hundreds of Russian entities and pledging billions of dollars in aid to Kiev.
Kishida is carrying out Japan’s largest military buildup since World War II and has repeatedly linked Ukraine’s plight to the fate of Taiwan, which China has threatened to “reunite” with mainland China by force if necessary.
In March, Kishida visited Ukraine, where Zelenskyy described the Japanese leader as a “powerful defender of international order” and “an old friend of Ukraine”.
Nick Bisley, a professor of international relations at Melbourne’s La Trobe University, told Al Jazeera that Zelenskyy’s presence would be a “great boost” for the summit and help to “mobilize a unity ticket against Russia”.
In Hiroshima, Zelenskyy is expected to gather the members of the G7 – Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the United States – to step up pressure on Moscow to end the war and increase their support for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy is also expected to hold bilateral talks with G7 leaders, including US President Joe Biden.
On Friday, G7 leaders pledged to further tighten sanctions against Russia to further reduce its ability to continue its “illegal aggression” against Ukraine. The club of rich economies is expected to unveil a series of coordinated measures aimed at the Russian economy, although there is division among members over how far punitive measures should go.
The US and UK announced new unilateral sanctions on Friday, including a ban by London on imports of Russian diamonds.