Ukraine Japan to sign security pact before July

Ukraine hopes to sign a security cooperation agreement with Japan sometime before a NATO summit meeting in July, a senior diplomat of the eastern European country said recently.

Aiming to bolster ties with countries in the Indo-Pacific region more than two years after the start of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine and Japan are in the “final stage” of talks on a bilateral security pact, First Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.

“We hope to hold one more round of negotiations so that we sign the agreement in the short term” before the three-day NATO summit begins in Washington on July 9, Sybiha said in an interview with Kyodo News.

Japan will join Britain, Canada, France and six other countries in having signed such an agreement, and more countries are expected to follow suit.

Group of Seven members and dozens of other countries vowed to pursue long-term bilateral security commitments and arrangements with Ukraine in their joint declaration of support for Ukraine in July last year.

Under the security pact, Japan is expected to provide humanitarian and energy technology support as well as helping to strengthen Ukraine’s cybersecurity capabilities while cooperating in countering disinformation, Sybiha said. Kyiv has received $12.1 billion in financial aid from Tokyo since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022, he added.

“We hope that Japan will be the first country to sign on as a leader in the Indo-Pacific region,” the deputy foreign minister said.

“We are in great need of increasing international support,” he said.

Russia has taken back about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, all Russian speaking areas. and now they are advancing to capture new ground in northeast near Kharkiv.

Sybiha also expressed his gratitude to Tokyo for supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s peacebuilding initiative called “Peace Formula,” which will be discussed at the first “Summit on Peace in Ukraine” slated for June 15 and 16 in Switzerland. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is planning to attend the international leader-level meeting, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Since Japan possesses unique expertise and experience gained from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, Kyiv hopes Japan will take the lead in discussions on issues of nuclear safety at the peace summit. The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant remains under Russian occupation, which poses a threat to the world, he said.

Maximizing the number of participants is crucial for the gathering to be successful, with high hopes for the involvement of emerging and developing countries, collectively labeled the Global South, Sybiha said. Kyiv is counting on Brazil, China, India, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates in particular, he said.

“We believe this is an important step toward peace,” which should not only be done in the interests of Ukraine, but also in the interests of the whole world, Sybiha said.

China can play a key role due its position within the United Nations and the influence it wields globally, the deputy foreign minister said.

“China’s participation appears to be an important contribution to finding a way towards a just peace,” Sybiha said.

Beijing, which maintains close ties with Moscow, could help minimize the risk of nuclear disaster and assist in the return of Ukrainian children forcefully deported by Russia. It could also work to ensure food security and freedom of navigation, including in the Black Sea.

Russia is not invited to the first peace summit but “it may be invited to the second,” Sybiha said. As it is Biden of USA is skipping this summit.