Tokyo: Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Tuesday he will make a four-day trip to New York from Wednesday to attend an emergency special session of the U.N. General Assembly and a ministerial debate of the U.N. Security Council.

The two-day General Assembly meeting from Wednesday is timed to coincide with the first anniversary of the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, on Feb 24, 2022.

Hayashi will join the second-day discussion of the special session, aiming to win support for a resolution to be submitted by Ukraine, for which Japan will serve as a co-sponsor.

“The Security Council is responsible for the maintenance of international peace and stability. Russia is one of the council’s permanent members, which carry the heaviest responsibility among all member states, and its invasion of Ukraine is absolutely unacceptable,” Hayashi told a press conference.

Representing Japan, Hayashi plans to present such a view at the ministerial debate on Friday.

JIJI Press