 Prime Minister Kishida receiving greetings from President Zelenskyy. | |
| Date | 21 March 2023 (2023-03-21) |
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| Location | Kyiv andBucha, Ukraine |
| Type | Diplomatic visit |
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On 21 March 2023,Fumio Kishida, thePrime Minister of Japan, visitedUkraine. This was the first visit to Ukraine by the Prime Minister since the beginning of theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[1]
Out of security concerns, plans for visit had not been made public prior, and only about ten persons, including his entourages, accompanied him, fromIndia, the first destination on the itinerary.[2]
Kishida became the first Prime Minister of Japan to visit a battlefield since the end ofWorld War II.[2][3]
Kishida had been planning to visitKyiv, the capital of Ukraine, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[4] Japan will act as the host state for the49th G7 summit to be held in May 2023, with the situation in Ukraine on the main agenda, so, Kishida thought it was essential to visit Ukraine and talk directly withVolodymyr Zelenskyy, thePresident of Ukraine.[4] However, due to problems such as ensuring safety of Kishida at the actual place and the convention of advance report to theNational Diet,[a] it had not been realized.[4]
In June 2022, it was reported that the leaders ofFrance,Germany andItaly[b] were planning a joint visit to Ukraine before the48th G7 summit.[6] Since Kishida was scheduled to visitEurope to participate to the summit, he considered visiting Ukraine during this visit, and also considered to participate to the joint visit.[7] However, this plan was abandoned because it would be difficult to keep the visit a secret by the advance report, and it will also cause trouble for the leaders of the three countries who are preparing secretly.[7] On 16 June, the leaders of the three countries visited Ukraine.[8]
After that, Kishida continued to plan for a visit to Ukraine, but he was forced to concentrate on domestic affairs such as the2022 Japanese House of Councillors election, theassassination of Shinzo Abe and theUnification Church problem that followed and the plan did not materialize.[7]
The next visit plan was considered in December 2022, after the 210th Session of the National Diet was closed, because the advance report is not required during the recess of the Diet.[7] However, due to the problem of ensuring safety of Kishida, and the leak of the top secret visit plan to the outside, this plan was also abandoned.[7]
On 6 January 2023, Zelenskyy requested Kishida to visit Ukraine in a telephone conversation, and Kishida replied "I want to consider it".[9] On 20 February 2023,President Joe Biden visited Ukraine, making Kishida the only leader ofG7 not to have visited Kyiv since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[10] With the 49th G7 summit to be held in Kishida's hometown in May 2023 approaching, he felt impatient with the situation in which he was the only leader of the host state to have not visited Ukraine.[10]
| External videos | |
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 【ウクライナ電撃訪問へ】岸田首相 経由地のポーランドでの姿をNNNのカメラが捉える (2023/03/21) – Nippon TV NEWS | |
| 岸田首相がウクライナ訪問 ゼレンスキー大統領と連携拡大を表明 (2023/03/22) – BBC News Japan |
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On 19 March 2023, he departed on theJapanese Air Force One fromHaneda Airport to visit India for a summit meeting withNarendra Modi,Prime Minister of India.[11] The Japan–India Summit Meeting was held the following day.[12] The schedule for the visit to India was unnaturally loose, as there was no the Diet schedule related to Kishida on 22 March, resulting in rumors that he would visit Ukraine.[13][14][c] Regarding the reason why the schedule on 21 March had enough time, people close to the Prime Minister told reporters "We have received an offer from the Indian side to visit Gujarat, the hometown of Modi, and we are considering it now".[16]
The original schedule was to return to Japan in the early dawn of the 22 March, but Kishida secretly departed fromIndira Gandhi International Airport (Palam Air Force Station) inDelhi forRzeszów–Jasionka Airport inPoland using abusiness jet at around 07:30 pm.[2][17] The airplane, aBombardier Global 7500 operated byVistaJet,[18][d] took off from Haneda Airport at around 08:00 pm on 19 March, about three hours before Kishida left for India.[13] Only about ten persons, includingSeiji Kihara (Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary),Takeo Akiba (head of theNational Security Council),Shigeo Yamada (Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs),Masashi Nakagome [ja] (head of the European Affairs Bureau), an interpreter, councilor of National Security Council, adoctor and theSecurity Police accompanied Kishida.[20] Kishida left the hotel where he was staying without the notice of accompanying reporters and the government attendant, and a publicist said with a bitter expression "I do not know what is going on".[16]
After arriving toRzeszów, Kishida transferred to a car forPrzemyśl Główny railway station, which lasted about an hour.[2][21] FromPrzemyśl, he transferred to a train for Kyiv.[2] TheGovernment of Russia was informed prior to Kishida's visit.[2]NHK andNippon News Network cameras captured Kishida boarding the train.[13][22] The video shows Kishida getting off the front car of the black-painted motorcade, boarding the train while being accompanied by a man who seems to be a strong local security guard, and loading corrugated fiberboard boxes.[e][13][22]Jiro Shinbo [ja] claimed in a program in which he was a radio personality that the reason cameras were able to film Kishida boarding the train was an "intentional leak".[24]
The train carrying Kishida arrived atKyiv-Pasazhyrskyi railway station a little after noon on 21 March, and was greeted by the local Japanese Embassy staff.[25]
After arriving to Ukraine, Kishida visitedBucha, where themassacre occurred in March 2022,[25] visited the church where 73 corpses were found, and laid flowers and offered a silent prayer at the mass grave behind the church.[26] After that, Kishida visited a residential area in Bucha, inspected thegenerators donated by the Government of Japan for wintering assistance, and conveyed Japan's stance of providing wintering assistance to Ukraine.[27]
After returning to Kyiv, Kishida visitedSt. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery and offered flowers toThe Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine.[28][27]
After that, Kishida held a summit meeting with Zelenskyy for about two hours and forty minutes.[29]
On the night of 21 March, after completing his time in Ukraine, Kishida left by a train for Poland.[30][31]
The Prime Minister's escort is handled by the Security Police of the Security Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department, but as a general rule, the escort of the Prime Minister's diplomatic visits is entrusted to the country they are visiting.[32] During this visit to Ukraine, since there was no legal basis fordispatching the Japan Self-Defense Forces overseas for the purpose of protecting the Prime Minister, it was decided that the protection would be entirely entrusted to the accompanying Security Police andUkrainian Armed Forces units.[13] At theHouse of Councillors Budget Committee meeting on 22 March,Chief Cabinet SecretaryHirokazu Matsuno stated about ensuring safety of Kishida at the actual place "The Ukrainian government took full responsibility, including acquisition of attack information by theRussian Armed Forces and evacuation, and carried out it".[33] In addition,Minister of DefenseYasukazu Hamada stated at a press conference on 22 March that theMinistry of Defense and theJapan Self-Defense Forces were not involved in Kishida's movement or protection, nor did it request the cooperation of the armed forces of Ukraine, Poland or other countries concerned.[34] At the House of Councillors Budget Committee meeting on 23 March, Kishida stated "The security of foreigners, including VIPs, is primarily handled by organizations such as police authorities of the territorial country. There is no explicit provision for dispatching the Japan Self-Defense Forces overseas for the sole purpose of protecting Japan's VIPs".[35]
This visit to Ukraine was carried out without advance report to the National Diet.[36] In February 2023, theLiberal Democratic Party suggested the possibility of omitting an advance report,[37] while theConstitutional Democratic Party of Japan had allowed the visit to Ukraine without an advance report, but had requested reports to be submitted to the Diet after returning to Japan.[38][37] At a meeting held in the National Diet Building on 22 March, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan agreed that after Kishida's return to Japan, he would make a report to the Diet in the form of questions from the ruling and opposition parties.[39]
At the joint press conference after the meeting, the Joint Statement on Special Global Partnership between Japan and Ukraine was announced.[40][41] The Joint Statement announced that they had agreed to upgrade the bilateral relations to the Special Global Partnership and to start coordination for the conclusion of the Japan–Ukraine Agreement on the Security of Information.[42] In addition, it was decided that President Zelenskyy was to participate online at the 49th G7 summit.[42][f] In addition, the following aid was announced:
NHK footage of Kishida boarding a train bound for Kyiv from Przemyśl in southeastern Poland showed the Japanese government officials carrying corrugated fiberboard boxes ofUmaibō, so it became a trending topic onsocial networking services that Kishida might have brought a large amount of Umaibō as relief supplies.[46] However, the contents of the box were actually 50 centimetres (20 in)rice paddles made inItsukushima (Miyajima),Hiroshima Prefecture where is Kishida's hometown.[23] It has the word "Certain Victory" (必勝,Hisshō) and the signature of Kishida.[23] According to the Miyajima Tourist Association, the origins of Certain Victory and rice paddle go back to theRusso-Japanese War.[47] The association said "Miyajima, which is located inHiroshima Bay, was one of the places where soldiers went to the war, so before they went to the war, the soldiers visitedItsukushima Shrine on Miyajima to pray for their safe return, and dedicated a rice paddle as altanative of protective amulet[g]".[23] Kishida also displays an extra-large rice paddle with the word "Certain Victory" (必勝,Hisshō) written on it, which was given to him by the Liberal Democratic Party Hiroshima as a prayer for victory when he ran for theLiberal Democratic Party leadership election in his office in the National Diet Building.[23]
Regarding this gift, theEmbassy of Ukraine in Japan posted on its official Twitter account on 24 March, "Certain Victory!" (必勝！,Hisshō!).[48] Ambassador of Ukraine to JapanSergiy Korsunsky also responded favorably, posting on Twitter on 25 March, "From now on, the "Certain Victory Rice Paddle" will be greatly appreciated as a gift from Japan".[48] On the other hand,Kenta Izumi, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, criticized the act at a press conference, "Giving the leader during the war a local noted product that is used for exams and sports cheering cannot be wiped out the sense of disharmony, and it exposed the lack of nervousness".[49] Also,Nobuyuki Baba, the leader of theNippon Ishin no Kai, criticized the act at a press conference, "They are fighting for dead or alive and they need support of this. Is it not a little too easy to bring rice paddles with a local noted product to such a place".[50] Also, the Miyajima Tourist Association complained, "It is great that the rice paddle has spread to the world, but I am not sure if the word "Certain Victory" is appropriate. Ukrainian people are really fighting for dead or alive. Even if we gifts a rice paddle with "Love" (愛,Ai) or "Peace" (平和,Heiwa) written on it, people will tell us that you take peace for granted".[47]
In addition to rice paddles, Miyajima ware lamps withorizuru motifs were given as a gift.[51] At a press conference on 23 March, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno explained the reason for the gift, saying, "It is to convey encouragement to President Zelenskyy who stands up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and prayers for peace".[51]
At a press conference on 21 March 2023,John Kirby, Coordinator for Strategic Communications at theNational Security Council welcomed it as "It's another example of just how strongly Japan is standing up with the rest of the international community to support Ukraine".[52]Patrick S. Ryder,Pentagon Press Secretary appreciated Kishida's visit to Ukraine, saying "I do think it is significant and we do continue to appreciate Japan and other countries' support for Ukraine, when it comes to securing an international rules-based order".[53][54]
Regarding Kishida's visit to Ukraine,Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China, said at a press conference on 21 March 2023, "The international community should create the conditions for a political solution to the crisis in Ukraine", and said "We want Japan to do many things that are beneficial, not against the de-escalation of the situation".[55] Furthermore,Chinese President andGeneral Secretary of the Communist PartyXi Jinpingmet withRussian PresidentVladimir Putin inRussia on 21 March 2023, the same day as Kishida's visit to Ukraine, and there is a tendency to view these in contrast in Western media.[56]
At a press conference on 23 March 2023,Maria Zakharova, the Director of the Information and Press Department of theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, argued that Kishida's visit to Ukraine may have been deliberately chosen to influence the China–Russia Summit Meeting.[57] A Russian state-owned news agencyTASS reported on the "Certain Victory Rice Paddle" gifted by Kishida to Zelenskyy, emphasizing that it was a protective amulet for Japanese soldiers during the Russo-Japanese War.[51] This rice paddle is perceived as a provocation to Russia and TASS reported with displeasure.[57]
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