Japan to provide Ukraine with more food, medicines

AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka
Tamara Oliynyk, 62, sits on a bed after surgery after being injured by shelling in Shandrigolovo village, at a hospital in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, Tuesday, April 26, 2022.

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Tuesday promised to provide Ukraine with additional food and medicines amid Russia’s ongoing aggression against the eastern European nation.

Kishida conveyed Japan’s plan, which came in response to a request by the Ukraine side, to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during talks over the telephone.

“We’ll work together with concerned nations, including our Group of Seven colleagues, and ramp up diplomatic efforts to support Ukraine,” Kishida told reporters after the talks.

It was the fourth phone talks between Kishida and Zelenskyy since military tensions heightened between Ukraine and Russia in February. The previous talks were held on March 4.

During Tuesday’s conversation, Kishida mentioned Japan’s assistance to Ukraine, including additional yen loans worth $200 million announced last week, as well as protective masks and drones.

Zelenskyy explained his country’s situation and thanked Japan for its assistance so far.