A leader of the European Union on Friday hailed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's visit to Ukraine in March, saying it sent a strong message to the Eastern European country and the international community, the government said.

During their 25-minute phone talks, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Kishida also agreed to maintain close communication on issues related to Ukraine and the security environment in the Indo-Pacific region, the Japanese government said.

The EU leader plans to accompany French President Emmanuel Macron for part of his trip to China in early April, while Kishida is scheduled to host a Group of Seven summit in May in Hiroshima, which was devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb in August 1945.

Kishida, elected to parliament from the western Japan city, has pledged to pitch his vision of a world without nuclear weapons amid fears that Russia could use a nuclear device against Ukraine in the ongoing war.

The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the EU.

On March 21, Kishida made an unannounced visit to Ukraine's capital of Kyiv ahead of the G-7 summit, vowing alongside President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to keep supporting the Eastern European nation as it continues trying to repel the Russian invasion that started in February 2022.

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Japan PM vows continued support for Ukraine in unannounced visit