Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise trip by rail to Kyiv to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as Chinese President Xi Jinping continued discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin in an official visit to Moscow.
The Japanese government announced on Tuesday that Fumio Kishida's Ukraine trip will "show respect to the courage and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing to defend their homeland under President Zelensky's leadership," per an Al Jazeera report. It added that the visit exhibits Fumio Kishida's unshakable commitment to Ukraine as head of Japan and chairman of G-7.
Japan PM Fumio Kishida traveled covertly due to Japan's pacifist constitution. Kishida is the first Japanese leader since World War II to visit a battleground. He was invited by Zelensky in January to visit Kyiv.
Before his travel to India, Japan PM Fumio Kishida dismissed a report that he would visit Kyiv at the end of March.
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Fumio Kishida Visits Ukraine Amid War Threat in East Asia
In response to the Russia-Ukraine war, Japan has joined the United States and European Union in imposing sanctions on Russia and giving humanitarian and economic aid to Ukraine.
Despite its stringent immigration policies, Japan has welcomed over 2,000 Ukrainian migrants and given over $7 billion in aid to Ukraine, according to AP News.
Fumio Kishida Ukraine visit was a quick Japanese action due to fears of conflict in East Asia, where China's military has become more muscular and has raised tensions surrounding sovereign Taiwan, which Beijing considers as its own.
Meanwhile, Tuesday sees the continuation of Xi Jinping's discussions with Vladimir Putin. China has been trying to position itself as a peace facilitator as of late, releasing a nebulously worded position paper last month that called for a truce and peace dialogue.
On Monday, a Kremlin readout stated that Vladimir Putin stated that Russia had "carefully studied" China's peace plans for the Russia-Ukraine war and that there would be an "opportunity" to talk about this subject, according to CNN.
However, Washington claims that the Chinese leader's visit is only "diplomatic cover" for Moscow and that Western allies are still pessimistic about any progress being made in the Russia-Ukraine war.
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