Japan will push ahead with support for Ukraine with a plan to host a meeting aimed at encouraging companies to participate in the war-torn country's economic recovery, Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said Wednesday.
The Japanese government plans the gathering for sometime late this year or early next year, Hayashi said in a speech at a two-day conference on Ukraine's reconstruction in London through Thursday, attended by over 60 nations.
"The Japanese public and private sectors can strongly support the recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine" through the meeting dubbed "the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Reconstruction," Hayashi added.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida vowed in phone talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to extend $5 million in humanitarian support days after the Nova Kakhovka dam was destroyed in the Russian-controlled Kherson region on June 6.
Japan also agreed Monday with Ukraine to establish a liaison system to help the Eastern European country to reconstruct areas severely damaged during the ongoing Russian invasion.
The new conference underscores Tokyo's commitment to taking part in Ukraine's reconstruction efforts aggressively through the public and private sectors.
As this year's chair of the Group of Seven major countries, Japan, along with other members, vowed their "unwavering unity" on supporting Kyiv at the summit in Hiroshima last month.
Tokyo has been discussing how to urge more Japanese companies to invest in Ukraine, amid Moscow's war against its former Soviet neighbor since February 2022 which shows no signs of ending.
The Japanese government held its first meeting of a cross-ministry council on Ukraine's recovery in May. Kishida pledged to promote public-private cooperation in fields such as mine-clearing and infrastructure rebuilding.
Hayashi said that Japan will deliver about 160 water purifiers, around 530 generators and some 30 construction machines to areas devastated by flooding caused by the dam collapse.
As part of his five-day trip to Europe through Saturday, Hayashi met his G-7 counterparts in London later Wednesday, according to the Foreign Ministry. They are expected to reaffirm their pledge to back Ukraine and maintain economic sanctions on Russia.
The G-7 top diplomats will also likely share views on China's increasing military assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region, after U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's visit to Beijing from Sunday to Monday, Japanese government officials said.
Hayashi plans to visit Paris during his trip for a multinational meeting focusing on financial measures to achieve U.N. sustainable development goals by 2030.
