Tokyo: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will visit Lithuania and Belgium for a total of three days from Tuesday, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said Friday.

The prime minister is set to return home on July 14.

Kishida will make the trip to Lithuania to attend a NATO summit, where he hopes to confirm with his counterparts plans to boost ties in the security field, including over the current situation in Ukraine.

A meeting between Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is being arranged on the sidelines of the NATO summit. During the bilateral talks, Kishida hopes to gain the South Korean leader’s understanding over the Japanese government’s plan to release treated water into the sea from the disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.

In Belgium, Kishida will attend a regular summit with leaders of the European Union.

“We hope to affirm increased commitment of NATO and the EU in the Indo-Pacific region and further strengthen our bond over maintaining and bolstering international order,” Matsuno said.

JIJI Press