Japan and Italy reaffirm strong support for Ukraine
At a meeting in Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni reaffirmed their countries' determination to cooperate in supporting Ukraine, which has been resisting a full-scale Russian invasion for the past two years.
This is reported by Kyodo, Ukrinform reported.
Meloni's visit to Tokyo is connected with the transfer of Japan's presidency of the Group of Seven (G7) to Italy, which will host this year's G7 summit.
Kishida and Meloni also reconfirmed their cooperation in supporting Ukraine, which has been under Russian invasion for the past two years, while exchanging views on how to tackle China's growing assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.
In Hiroshima, the G7 leaders pledged ‘unwavering support’ for Ukraine amid the war, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participating in sessions on the closing day of the three-day gathering.
During their talks in Tokyo, the two leaders discussed the achievements of the G7 summit that was held in Kishida's home constituency of Hiroshima in May 2023, including the establishment of rules to prevent the misuse of artificial intelligence technology.
Meloni told Kishida that Italy is planning to focus at the upcoming summit on how to grapple with climate change and energy security as well as how to collaborate with emerging and developing economies in the "Global South."
On the defense front, Kishida and Meloni discussed their three-way joint project to develop a next-generation fighter jet with Britain as they face increasingly severe security challenges, such as Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Late last year, the defense ministers of Japan, Italy, and Britain agreed to set up a coordinating body to proceed with the project, a key step in putting their plan into practice.
The Group of Seven (G7) includes the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the European Union.
As reported by Ukrinform, the Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union are discussing a plan to use more than $250 billion of frozen assets of the Russian central bank as collateral to help finance Ukraine's recovery.