Ukrainian Government “President Zelensky to come to Japan to attend G7 summit.”

Last Updated on 05/19/2023 by てんしょく飯

A senior Ukrainian government official has announced that President Zelensky will visit Japan and attend the G7 Hiroshima Summit face-to-face.

For President Zelensky, it is believed that by attending the G7 Summit face-to-face, he will appeal for further support for Ukraine.

On 19 May, Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council, which is in charge of security in the Ukrainian Government, announced in an interview with a local public broadcaster that President Zelensky would visit Japan and attend the G7 Hiroshima Summit in person.

Secretary Danilov then said, “Very important things will be decided at the summit. It is important for President Zelensky to go there in order to protect Ukraine’s interests,” he said, emphasising the significance of his attendance at the summit.

In May, President Zelensky made a series of visits to European countries, including Germany and the UK, to obtain military assistance in the form of missiles and drones.

Subsequently, the UK and other countries have indicated a policy of providing Ukrainian pilots with fighter training and building an ‘international coalition’ to support the procurement of fighter aircraft, etc. At the G7 Summit, President Zelensky is expected to appeal for further military support for Ukraine, including the provision of F-16 fighter aircraft, which he has long been calling for. President Zelensky is expected to appeal for further military assistance to Ukraine at the G7 Summit, including the provision of F16 fighter jets, which he has long requested.

India and Brazil are also scheduled to attend the G7 summit as invited countries, and the focus will be on whether discussions will be held with countries that have a negative attitude towards support for Ukraine.

President Zelensky: “If the visit is realised, he will meet Prime Minister Kishida separately.”

According to diplomatic sources, Ukrainian President Zelensky is making arrangements to hold a separate meeting with Prime Minister Kishida if his visit to Hiroshima is realised.

In that case, he is also said to be making arrangements to visit the Atomic Bomb Museum.

“Summit meeting with President Biden during visit”, leading US newspaper.

The New York Times, an influential US newspaper, states that several US officials did not reveal when President Zelensky would arrive in Hiroshima for security reasons.

It goes on to say that when President Zelensky visits Hiroshima, he will likely hold a summit meeting with US President Biden.

Also, given that Indian Prime Minister Modi and Brazilian President Lula have also been invited to the G7 Hiroshima Summit, “President Zelensky’s attendance at the G7 meeting could make it more difficult for Indian, Brazilian and other leaders to continue their passive stance on support for Ukraine, US officials have noted”.

President Zelensky’s aims

Ukrainian President Zelensky wants to make a face-to-face appeal to the West to continue and strengthen its military support, which he hopes will lead to a successful reversal of the offensive to regain territory.

He also hopes that the summit will further increase pressure on Russia and isolate it internationally.

The meeting in Hiroshima will also be attended by emerging and developing countries in what is known as the Global South, many of which hold intermediate positions, and it is believed that they wish to appeal for broad support.

The discussion on nuclear weapons is also seen as an important theme.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly indicated that he is prepared to use nuclear force.

And there are growing concerns about the safety of the Zaporizha nuclear power plant in the south, which the Russian military continues to occupy, and President Zelensky stressed in April that Russia must not be given the opportunity to threaten the world by using its nuclear facilities.

The aim is therefore to demonstrate in Hiroshima, the A-bombed city of Japan, a strong stance that nuclear threats will not be tolerated.

In the joint statement issued by Prime Minister Kishida during his visit to Ukraine in March this year and his meeting with President Zelensky, Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons was condemned as a serious and unacceptable threat to the peace and security of the international community.

The statement then included an emphasis that Russia must not break the 77-year history of non-use of nuclear weapons.

Furthermore, through the summit, Zelensky hopes to gain support for his 10-point peace proposal, which includes the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Woman displaced from Ukraine: ‘Concrete measures to stop war’

Commenting on the prospect of Ukrainian President Zelensky visiting Japan to attend the G7 Hiroshima Summit, Sheuchenko Olena, 44, who has fled to Japan with her son from the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, said: ‘Hiroshima is the city where nuclear weapons were dropped and it has an important significance for the world. Hiroshima is a city where nuclear weapons were dropped and it has a significant meaning for the world. It is wonderful that the G7 summit will be held in Hiroshima and that President Zelensky will attend the summit, which I think is very significant for stopping the war between Russia and Ukraine”.

He added: “I hope that President Zelensky will appeal to the world about the reality that many lives are still being lost in Ukraine, including women and children, and decide on concrete measures to stop the war. I hope that the talks with world leaders will be fruitful and that people will be able to return to their happy everyday lives again”.

Who is President Zelensky?

President Volodymyr Zelensky is 45 years old.

Originally from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, he was originally a popular TV personality who worked as a comedian and actor.

Following the success of the drama in which he played the role of the President, he ran for the presidency four years ago without any political experience, and attracted wide support, especially from young people, defeating the incumbent in the run-off election with over 70% of the vote.

In the same year, he and his wife Olena visited Japan to attend the coronation of the Emperor of Japan and held talks with then Prime Minister Abe.

At the time, fighting was already continuing in eastern Ukraine with pro-Russian militants, and Zelensky was aiming to stabilise the eastern part of the country and was also emphasising dialogue with Russia, but as Russian pressure intensified, some in Ukraine criticised him for his weak stance.

Following the military invasion by Russia, President Zelensky remained in the presidential palace in the capital, Kyiv, and actively communicated his will not to yield to Russia on social networking sites.

Day after day, he dressed himself in clothes and other clothing decorated with the Ukrainian national emblem and spoke to the people on social networking videos, appealing for unity and calling on the international community to support him.

In a series of meetings with Western dignitaries and speeches at international conferences, they have also called for the imposition of additional strong economic sanctions to force the Putin regime to abandon its continued military aggression, as well as military and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.

As Ukrainian forces continue to fight against the Russian side to regain territory, we have been actively on the ground, and in April we visited Audy Iuka, one of the hardest fought areas in the eastern Donetsk region, where we received a report from the local commander and encouraged the soldiers to continue fighting, saying that all we want is victory.

The American magazine Time, which annually announces the ‘Person of the Year’ who has had the greatest impact on the world, last year chose President Zelensky and the ‘Spirit of Ukraine’.

In March this year, he also met with Prime Minister Kishida, who visited the capital city of Kyiv ahead of the G7 Hiroshima Summit, and expressed his expectations for Japan’s role as the chairing country.

President Zelensky’s foreign visits

Ukrainian President Zelensky visited the US capital Washington last December on his first foreign visit since the start of the Russian military invasion.

He held a summit meeting with President Biden in Washington and also addressed the Congress, where he said: ‘Your support is not an act of charity. It is an investment in global security and democracy”, and called for continued support and the provision of more weapons.

President Zelensky has made a series of foreign visits since the beginning of May, visiting Finland and the Netherlands in early May, and Italy, the Vatican, Germany, France and the UK from 13 to 15 May.

So far, President Zelensky has not visited any other Western countries since the military invasion, and his visit to Japan will be his first in Asia.