Japan PM Kishida arrives in Kyiv

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has arrived in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv in a surprise visit to the Eastern European country to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Report informs referring to Kyodo News.

The visit, which had been kept secret until right before arrival, comes a day after Kishida met with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi. It is rare for a Japanese leader to make an unannounced trip to a foreign country.

He visited Ukraine while Chinese President Xi Jinping, who began a three-day visit to Russia on March 20, met with his counterpart Vladimir Putin.

Kishida had been the sole Group of Seven leader yet to visit Ukraine following Russia’s invasion of its neighbor in February 2022. Japan holds this year’s G-7 presidency.

The premier and Zelenskyy are expected to discuss Japanese support for the reconstruction of Ukraine, which has been under attack by Russia since last year.

Kishida plans to demonstrate Japan’s commitment to supporting the war-torn country ahead of a G-7 summit he will host in Hiroshima in May.

He is scheduled to preside over a three-day summit from May 19 in Hiroshima, devastated by a US atomic bomb in August 1945.