Arab News Japan

TOKYO: SUZUKI Muneo, a member of Japan’s House of Councilors, called on Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio to ignore the invitation from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky to visit his country.

Suzuki, who represents the Japan Renewal Party, said Japan should consider the issues it has with Russia ahead of those involving Ukraine.

“In the first place, from the perspective of Japan’s national interests, which is more important – Russia or Ukraine? [With Russia] there is the issue of the Northern Territories, and there are negotiations about fisheries and raw materials for fertilizers. Above all, Russia is of vital importance to securing stable energy supplies to resource-poor Japan.” 

Japan has yet to sign a post-WWII peace agreement with Russia because the former Soviet Union occupied the Kuril Islands in northern Japan at the end of the war.

Suzuki, 74, went on to criticize Ukrainian President Zelensky for being “eccentric” and “not keeping his promises,” noting that national leaders “keeping promises” is a basic feature of democracy. 

“It was Zelensky who refused to implement the Minsk 1 and 2 agreements between Ukraine and Russia, and said he wanted to renegotiate the Budapest Memorandum,” Suzuki said. “We should not think about the problem of Ukraine emotionally. When Prime Minister Kishida goes to Ukraine, it is clear that the Ukrainian side will ask him for financial assistance.” 

Kishida held a telephone conversation on Friday with Zelensky, who invited him to visit his country. In subsequent statements, Kishida expressed his readiness to visit Kyiv.

Suzuki has said recently that he supports Russian President Vladimir Putin’s initiative to implement a truce for the Orthodox Christian holidays, describing it as a “New Year’s gift” from Putin, and he called on the G7 and G20 to support that initiative.