Japan temporarily closes embassy in Kyiv

Jiji Press

16:52 JST, March 2, 2022

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The Japanese Embassy in Kyiv closed on a temporary basis in response to the expansion of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

The embassy’s operations have been transferred to a temporary liaison office set up in the western Ukraine city of Lviv, near the Polish border, where embassy officials continue to engage in the work to ensure the safety of Japanese nationals and help them leave Ukraine, according to the ministry.

At Wednesday’s meeting of the Budget Committee of the House of Councillors, the upper chamber of Japan’s parliament, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said the decision on the embassy closure came as “Russia’s invasion expanded and tensions heightened extremely and rapidly in Kyiv.”

Officials including Kuninori Matsuda, Japanese ambassador to Ukraine, had remained at the embassy in Kyiv for such operations as collecting security information.