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Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said on Monday that he will invite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to participate in the Group of Seven (G-7) online summit, which begins on Friday.
Kishida’s government said on Wednesday that it will guarantee a loan for $5.5 billion to Ukraine from the World Bank, fulfilling Kishida’s pledge of financial assistance for “people who were robbed of their daily lives by the war.” Kishida topped off this bout of all-in support for Ukraine by proposing that he might visit Kyiv soon.
Some Japanese government officials sought to qualify Kishida’s talk of visiting Kyiv in the very near future by telling reporters such a trip would be largely symbolic and not truly necessary – but Zelensky invited Kishida to visit Ukraine in January, and the Japanese leader is reportedly serious about wanting to accept that invitation. In fact, since he is the only G-7 leader who has not been to Ukraine yet, he had hoped to make the trip before the summit on Friday.
The Japanese Defense Ministry on Wednesday pointed out a major obstacle to Kishida visiting the Ukrainian war zone: Japan’s pacifist constitution technically does not allow the Self-Defense Forces to provide military protection for traveling dignitaries, even the prime minister.
