Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan and the G7 chair in 2023, arrived in Kyiv on Tuesday, 21 March to hold talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

As NHK, a Japanese TV channel, reports, Kishida arrived in the Ukrainian capital by train on Tuesday around noon. He was met by Emine Japarova, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, and the Ambassador of Japan.

Head of the Japanese government Fumio Kishida and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Emine Dzhaparova

Credit: NHK

The visit, which was kept secret until Kissida's arrival, comes a day after he met with his Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi.

Kishida and Zelenskyy are expected to discuss Japan's support for the reconstruction of Ukraine.

Kishida was the only G7 leader who had not yet visited Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

On 24 February, at the invitation of Kishida, Zelenskyy took part in the G7 online summit dedicated to the first anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The foreign ministers of the G7 countries and Ukraine met in early March after the Russian missile attack to discuss Ukraine's needs.