Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is heading to Kyiv for an unannounced official visit and will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday, the Foreign Ministry said in Tokyo, confirming Japanese press reports.

Mr. Kishida “will express to President Zelensky his respect for the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people defending their homeland under his leadership, as well as the solidarity and unwavering support of Japan and the G7,” whose Asian country is hosting this year, Japanese diplomacy explained in a published her press release.

Fumio Kishida has so far been the only head of government or state of the G-7 most industrialized countries in the world who has not been to Kyiv since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. He repeatedly received invitations to visit the Ukrainian capital. In February, US President Joe Biden also made an unannounced visit to Kyiv.

Japanese public broadcaster NHK explained that its film crew in Poland filmed a car with the Japanese prime minister in the city of Przemysl, from where foreign dignitaries often take trains to Ukraine.

“The cortege drove into Przemysl station and parked in front of an interchange used by international rail trains bound for Ukraine. Prime Minister Kishida got out of the first carriage of the motorcade and boarded the first carriage of the train,” he explained.

According to NHK, the train departed at 01:30 (local time; 02:30 Greek time).

Mr. Kishida has repeatedly stated that the trip is “under consideration”. Japanese government sources told the media that there are concerns about his safety and the complex measures required.

Fumio Kishida the first Japanese Prime Minister to visit a war zone since the end of World War II..

His visit is recorded at the moment when Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Moscow for talks with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, focusing on the war in Ukraine.

Tokyo, joining the Western countries, imposed economic sanctions against Moscow and offered assistance to Kyiv.

In February, he announced a new €5.1 billion aid package to Ukraine. He also sent defense equipment and offered to take in some of the refugees.

However, it does not send military aid because the country’s constitution, drawn up after the defeat of the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II, obliges Japan to devote its military capabilities only to national defense.

Source: RES-IPE