WARSAW: Japanese Foreign Minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa, in talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Dmytro Kuleba, on Saturday, said Japan will support the people of Ukraine with stern resolve amid Russia’s invasion of their country.

Kuleba thanked Hayashi for the offer of support during their meeting in the Polish capital of Warsaw, saying that such an offer is encouraging for Ukrainian people.

“Japan’s government and Japanese people are with the people of Ukraine,” Hayashi said in the talks, showing solidarity with the war-torn country.

Hayashi said he, as a special envoy of Japanese Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio, will work on learning the needs of Ukrainian evacuees and issues facing them in order to better support them, including by accepting them into Japan. Also, Hayashi said Japan will continue to impose sanctions on Russia in cooperation with the international community.

Kuleba appreciated the Japanese government’s support for the evacuees and Japan’s sanctions on Russia. He gave explanations about the present situation in Ukraine.

The two foreign ministers agreed to continue cooperating closely.

Elsewhere in the talks, Kuleba welcomed the Japanese government’s decision to change its transliteration of his country’s capital to Ukrainian-based “kiiu,” or Kyiv, from Russian-derived “kiefu,” or Kiev.

Hayashi said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent online speech made to Japan’s parliament was moving. He handed Kuleba pictures drawn by Japanese children with wishes for peace in Ukraine.

JIJI Press