Japan will offer Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday, days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Ukraine received $5.5 billion in new financial support.
Japan, this year’s G-7 chairman, has joined Western powers in imposing sanctions on Moscow since the outbreak of the war on February 24, 2022.
Restoration of destroyed infrastructure
According to the Prime Minister’s Office, Ukraine has already provided Ukraine with $600 million in financial support, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency humanitarian assistance.
But “there is still a need to help people whose livelihoods have been destroyed by the war and rebuild destroyed infrastructure,” Kishida said in a speech at a think tank symposium in Tokyo.
“We have made the decision to provide additional financial support in the amount of $5.5 billion.”
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The Japanese premier also announced that he would hold a video conference of G7 leaders with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, the anniversary of the invasion.
“This year, Japan, in its capacity as G7 Chair and non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, will support Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression and lead the world’s efforts to maintain a free and open international order based on the rule of law,” Kishida said.
G7 leaders will meet in person in Hiroshima in May.
Defense technology of Japan
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion, Japan has also taken rare steps to send defensive equipment and provide shelter to those fleeing the conflict.
The country has a pacifist post-war constitution that limits its military power to ostensibly defensive measures.
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Kishida’s remarks came after US President Joe Biden, during an unannounced visit to Kyiv, promised to boost arms supplies to Ukraine.
This is Biden’s first visit to Ukraine since the start of the war, and Zelenskiy called the trip “an extremely important sign of support for all Ukrainians.”