[ad_1]
Hong Kong (CNN) A day after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will make a surprise visit to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
directly He has already left India, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is now heading to Ukraine, according to Japanese public broadcaster NHK.
It will be the first time for a Japanese prime minister to visit a country or region where fighting has continued since World War II, NHK reported. It is also the first visit to Ukraine by an Asian member of the G7 group and the first by a US ally in the region.
The two visits by Kishida and Xi Jinping highlight the deep divisions in Northeast Asia leading up to the war in Ukraine. Japan has pledged a large amount of aid to Kiev, but China remains the only voice in support of an increasingly isolated President Putin.
Faced with China’s growing assertiveness and growing global influence, Japan and the United States have developed closer ties in recent years, particularly in regional security and intelligence cooperation.
Japan is also a member of the Quad, an informal group focused on security that includes India, Australia and the United States.
Last year, Kishida strongly opposed Moscow’s aggression against its neighbors, warning that “today’s Ukraine may become tomorrow’s East Asia.”
Last month, on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the invasion, Japan pledged $5.5 billion in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
At the time, Kishida said, “Russia’s attack on Ukraine is not just a European problem, but a challenge to the rules and principles of the international community as a whole.”
Kishida, who visited New Delhi on Monday, announced new plans to invest $75 billion in the Indo-Pacific, according to Reuters. This is widely seen as an attempt to deepen ties with countries in South and Southeast Asia and counter China’s influence.
Xi meets ‘dear friend’ Putin
Japanese leader scheduled to arrive in Ukraine Xi Jinping’s controversial visit to Russia will be the first since the invasion began, and the first day of talks will begin on Monday.
Xi’s visit is framed as a peacebuilding project in Beijing, despite deep skepticism in Kiev and in the West.
For the United States and much of Europe, the Chinese leader’s presence in Moscow is a powerful threat to Putin at a time when his army is running out of supplies and Russia’s economy is struggling under Western sanctions. It is considered supportive.
Throughout the invasion, China supported the Kremlin’s rhetoric of blaming NATO for the conflict, refused to condemn the aggression, and continued to financially support Moscow by significantly increasing its purchases of Russian fuel. rice field.
India is the only other Asian country to take a similar position, refusing to formally condemn Russian aggression and continuing to purchase Russian oil.
Despite Prime Minister Modi’s apparent criticism of Putin last September that now is not the time for war, India continues to maintain vital ties with Russia.
During Monday’s visit, Xi praised Putin and called him a “dear friend.” They discussed the war in Ukraine and had a further meeting scheduled for Tuesday.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Xi planned to meet with Mr Zelensky after visiting Moscow, citing “people familiar with the matter”.
It will be the first time the two leaders have met since Russia began its invasion.
Ukrainian, Chinese and US officials all declined to confirm the possibility of a virtual meeting.
Emi Shirozuka of CNN responded to the interview.
[ad_2]
Source link
