TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio on Monday announced a new $5.5 billion financial aid for Ukraine and will mark the first anniversary of the war by hosting an online Group of Seven summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Kishida, speaking at a global forum in Tokyo organized by a Japanese think tank, said Ukraine still suffers under the Russian invasion and its people need help to rebuild their daily lives and infrastructure that’s been badly damaged by Russian attacks.

As this year’s president of G-7, Kishida said he will host an online summit to be joined by Zelenskyy on Friday to mark the first anniversary of the Russian invasion. It will be the first time for Kishida to host a G-7 summit.

Japan has joined the United States and European nations in sanctioning Russia over its invasion and providing humanitarian and economic support for Ukraine. Japan was quick to react because it fears a possible impact of the war in East Asia, where China’s military has grown increasingly assertive and has escalated tensions around self-ruled Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

In his speech, Kishida acknowledged he made a decisive move because of “strong concern that Ukraine may be tomorrow’s East Asia.”

He said Russia’s invasion is a challenge for the entire rules-based international order that brings an end to the post-Cold War era. “That’s why I decided to resolutely respond to (Russia) with sanctions.”

Japan has provided loans of more than 70 billion yen ($520 million) to Ukraine in emergency economic assistance. The country has also accepted more than 2,000 displaced Ukrainians and helped them with housing assistance, support for jobs and education.

AP