• The prime minister of Japan is currently in Kyiv where he is assuring the president of Ukraine.
• China will prioritize its relations with Russia, according to Mr. Xi.
• Kishida will demonstrate his “complete rejection of Russia’s unilateral alteration to the status.

The schedules of the presidents of China and Japan provide a clear illustration of how the conflict in Ukraine is resonating throughout Asia. Both are traveling abroad for important business on different sides of the fight.

Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, is currently in Kyiv where he is assuring the president of Ukraine of his steadfast support and discussing humanitarian help and reconstruction.

Meanwhile, Vladimir Putin of Russia has referred to China’s Xi Jinping as a friend and a partner while he is now in Moscow. Despite China’s claims to be neutral, it appears more pro-Moscow than an impartial mediator at the moment.

China will prioritize its relations with Russia, according to Mr. Xi, who called the two nations “great neighboring powers” on Tuesday.

Given the circumstances in Moscow, Mr. Kishida’s parallel trip’s optics and timing are astounding. What can we infer from it, then?

A Japanese leader seldom travels abroad without prior notice, and Mr. Kishida is the first since World War Two to visit a nation that is at war.

Because of security concerns, the visit was kept a secret until just before his early-morning Tuesday arrival.

According to the Japanese Foreign Ministry, he will “pay respect to the fortitude and patience of the Ukrainian people who are standing up to defend their motherland… and demonstrate solidarity and unshakable support” while there.

Also, Mr. Kishida will demonstrate his “complete rejection of Russia’s unilateral alteration to the status quo through invasion and force,” the statement said.

Mr. Kishida has been under increasing pressure from his own ruling Liberal Democratic Party to visit Ukraine (LDP).

He had been urged to travel before he preside over a G7 summit in Hiroshima in May because, up until today, he had been the only G7 leader to have not been since Russia began its invasion last year.

By hosting a summit with the president of South Korea last week in Tokyo, the first time that had occurred in more than ten years, he had already achieved one significant diplomatic coup. Reassuring Japan’s vital ally, the US, will be achieved through normalizing relations with Seoul, exchanging intelligence, and presenting a unified front against North Korea.

Also Read

Ukraine claims that Russian missiles were shot down in Crimea

The city of Dzhankoi's newly-installed Russian mayor claimed drones had targeted the...