Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi pledged to continue Japan’s support for Ukraine at her first summit meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. This policy won’t change,” Takaichi said before a closed-door meeting with Zelenskyy. However, self-imposed legal restrictions on exports of lethal weapons have meant Tokyo has limited its military backing to nonlethal items such as trucks and body armor.
In addition, Japan has provided generators to help with energy supplies, and led efforts to plan for the eventual reconstruction of Ukraine’s damaged and destroyed infrastructure. In media interviews, Zelenskyy has suggested further cooperation with Japan, such as in drone development and supplies of air defense equipment, but the Ukrainian leader didn’t press Takaichi publicly for more assistance ahead of their meeting. That is true,” Zelenskyy told the envoys.
However, the results so far have not been as significant — with all due respect, and we are grateful for Japan’s support — but they have not been as significant as they could have been.” The talks between the two leaders came as Japan’s relations with Russia sour further over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first visit to Russian-held islands off Hokkaido that were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. Russia has in turn criticized what it says is an increasingly hostile policy by Japan toward Moscow as it continues to align with Ukraine.
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