“Important” for Japan’s new foreign minister to have visited Ukraine as soon as possible - spokeswoman

This was stated by the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Mariko Kaneko, who spoke in a comment to Ukrinform.

She noted that Minister Iwai took office only at the beginning of October and, although he attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Peru, the visit to Ukraine was his first bilateral trip.

"Since Minister Iwai assumed the position of the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he always thought about visiting Ukraine and wanted to arrive as soon as possible. He is very zealous when it comes to diplomatic, international relations. He personally very much sought to visit Ukraine and see with his own eyes, hear directly from the people about the situation there," said the spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan.

Kaneko noted that the top diplomat appreciates fruitful meetings with his Ukrainian counterpart Andrii Sybiha, as well as with President Volodymyr Zelensky and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

Minister Iwai assured the interlocutors that Japan, which is the fourth largest single donor to Ukraine, will cooperate with other countries to ensure a just and lasting peace as soon as possible, the diplomat noted.

As Ukrinform reported, on November 16, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwai arrived in Ukraine on an unannounced visit. During the meeting with President Zelensky, he discussed, in particular, the strengthening of Russia sanctions and the threat of the aggressor state’s cooperation with North Korea.

During Iwai's visit, Ukraine and Japan signed an agreement on strengthening cooperation in the field of information security.

Photo: President’s Office