Japanese Prime Minister 
Sanae Takaichi held her first summit talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Tuesday on the UN General Assembly sidelines in New York, pledging continued support for Ukraine. The talks ran for about 20 minutes, CNA reported, citing Japanese broadcaster TBS, and were the pair's first face-to-face meeting since Takaichi took office last October.
What did the two leaders say? In remarks that the Japan Times reported were made before the closed-door meeting, Takaichi said: "Japan stands with Ukraine. This policy won't change." "We will continue to work with the international community to support Ukraine and maintain sanctions against Russia," she said. She also said that cooperating with other countries to support Ukraine was important to achieving a just and lasting peace as early as possible, CNA reported. Zelenskyy thanked Japan for its humanitarian and energy support and said it would never be forgotten.
Did defense cooperation come up? Zelenskyy did not publicly broach possible tie-ups with Tokyo in areas such as drone development and air defense equipment, the Japan Times reported. Japan has been a strong supporter of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022, but self-imposed legal restrictions on exports of lethal weapons have limited Tokyo's military backing to nonlethal items such as trucks and body armor.
Which other Japanese politicians have visited Ukraine this month? Eisuke Mori, speaker of Japan's House of Representatives, visited Kyiv on Sept. 14, met senior Ukrainian government officials and voiced support for Kyiv, CNA reported, citing Kyodo News. It was the first visit to Ukraine by a speaker of the lower house since Russia invaded in February 2022. Mori has chaired the cross-party Japan-Ukraine Friendship Parliamentary League, founded in 1995, since 2011. A week after his trip, Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, visited Kyiv on Sept. 21 and met senior Ukrainian foreign ministry officials and lawmakers, the first such visit by a Japanese opposition party leader since the war began in 2022.
Figures referenced: Sanae Takaichi. — JudgeMarket.
