Ambassador: Ukraine-Japan ties can be called "special global partnership"

The diplomat said this at the IV Ukraine-Japan Forum, organized by the New Europe Center, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"If you look back at these two years, you can see one plus in this war, which is completely unnecessary, which is that Japan and Ukraine have rediscovered each other and our relations have become much closer than ever in the past," Matsuda said.

According to him, today's ties between the countries can be called a "special global partnership" in many areas, the most important of which is now security.

"Security in Europe cannot be separated from security in East Asia and the entire Asia-Pacific region," the diplomat said.

He expressed his conviction that there are countries in the world in general and in Asia in particular that want to follow Russia's example, so everything should be done to prevent the aggressor from achieving its goals and to ensure that it is fairly punished.

The diplomat paid special attention to economic cooperation, emphasizing that it is not only about post-war reconstruction, but also about the sustainable development of the Ukrainian economy.

Matsuda recalled the words of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida that assistance to Ukraine is an investment in the common future of the world.

"By investing in Ukraine and diversifying our trade relations, we are primarily helping Ukraine, but at the same time it will bring dividends to Europe and countries beyond, including East Asia and Japan. So when we help Ukraine, we also help Japan," he said.

The ambassador also emphasized that Japan and Ukraine are countries that respect the rule of law, democracy, freedom of expression, and international law and order.

"Japan has one basic position, which is that we are helping Ukraine and we want to punish Russia and we are doing this through sanctions that will be strengthened and continued as long as necessary. We will never move away from solidarity with Ukraine," the Japanese diplomat emphasized.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the head of the State Property Fund Vitaliy Koval discussed with representatives of the Japanese JICA agency and Toho Titanium the possibility of investing in the titanium industry of Ukraine.

Photo: telegraf.com.ua