Japan will offer new financial support to Ukraine worth $5.5 billion, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Monday, a day before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Japan, this year’s Group of Seven president, has joined Western powers in imposing sanctions on Moscow since the war began on February 24, 2022.
Restoration of damaged infrastructure
It has provided financial support to Ukraine worth $600 million along with hundreds of millions of dollars in emergency humanitarian aid, according to the prime minister’s office.
But “there is still a need to help people whose livelihoods have been destroyed by war, and to restore damaged infrastructure”, Kishida said in a speech at a think tank symposium in Tokyo.
“We have decided to provide additional financial support of $5.5 billion.”
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Japan’s prime minister also announced he will host a video conference of G7 leaders with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, the one-year anniversary of the invasion.
“This year, Japan, as the president of the G7 and a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, will support Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression and lead the world’s efforts to uphold a free and open international order based on the rule of law.” said Kishida.
G7 leaders will meet in Hiroshima in May.
Japanese defense equipment
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion was launched, Japan has also taken rare steps to send defense equipment and provide shelter to those fleeing the conflict.
The country has a pacifist post-war constitution, which limits the military’s capacity for defensive measures.
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Kishida’s announcement came as US President Joe Biden, in an unannounced visit to Kyiv, pledged to increase arms shipments to Ukraine.
It was Biden’s first visit to Ukraine since the war began, and the trip was hailed by Zelensky as “a very important sign of support for all Ukrainians”.