By Tomoyuki Tachikawa,
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday touted the achievements of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, saying the leaders from the advanced economies agreed to work toward a world without nuclear weapons and stand by Ukraine.
The three-day G-7 summit from Friday took place in Kishida's home constituency in the western city, devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb in August 1945, amid lingering fears that Russia may use a nuclear weapon in its ongoing war in Ukraine.
On the closing day of the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated in sessions to discuss Russia's aggression against its neighbor following his highly-publicized arrival on Saturday in Japan on a French government plane.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Sunday touted the achievements of the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima, saying the leaders from the advanced economies agreed to work toward a world without nuclear weapons and stand by Ukraine.
The three-day G-7 summit from Friday took place in Kishida's home constituency in the western city, devastated by a U.S. atomic bomb in August 1945, amid lingering fears that Russia may use a nuclear weapon in its ongoing war in Ukraine.
On the closing day of the summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated in sessions to discuss Russia's aggression against its neighbor following his highly-publicized arrival on Saturday in Japan on a French government plane.
He said that Zelenskyy's presence at the summit helped send "a strong message" on the Ukraine crisis.
"It is the mission of Japan, the G-7 presidency this year, to demonstrate resolve to preserving peace and prosperity," Kishida said. "There is no place more suitable than Hiroshima, symbolizing the vow for peace, to convey such determination."
But critics said the G-7 leaders did not elaborate on detailed plans to enhance disarmament and non-proliferation efforts, with the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, known as ICAN, lambasting them for failing to "announce anything new or concrete."
Stressing that the G-7 confirmed the importance of upholding the free and open international order based on the rule of law, Kishida said the group is ready to build constructive and stable ties with China, which has been boosting its military influence in the region.
Kishida urged China to "act responsibly" in the international community, with concern growing that Beijing has been attempting to deepen military cooperation with Moscow to counter the global order dominated by the United States and the Western democracies.
On the regional security front, Kishida said the G-7 condemned North Korea's unprecedented number of unlawful ballistic missile launches, calling for it to completely abandon nuclear weapons and its existing development programs.
Kishida added that the group also agreed to keep putting pressure on Pyongyang to resolve the long-standing issue of abductions of Japanese nationals by North Korea in the 1970s and 1980s.
During Sunday's sessions, in which some leaders from emerging and developing nations in the "Global South" also took part, Zelenskyy appealed for broad support from the international community.
Many countries in the Global South have avoided taking sides over Moscow's aggression against Ukraine, with some of them dependent on Russia, a resource-rich nation, for military and energy supplies.
At Sunday's sessions, the G-7 leaders told Zelenskyy that they will provide diplomatic, financial, humanitarian and military support to Ukraine as needed, with Kishida hailing the president's "sincere" efforts toward a "lasting peace," the Japanese government said.
Later in the day, Zelenskyy, who made his first visit to Japan since Russia invaded its neighbor in February 2022, met bilaterally with Kishida and held a press conference.
Zelenskyy, meanwhile, held a separate bilateral meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden. Biden has given his backing for a joint international effort to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16 fighter jets as requested by Kyiv.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy landed at Hiroshima airport while the G-7 leaders released a communique in which they pledged to support Ukraine as long as the country faces Russia's illegal aggression.
Zelenskyy met on the same day with leaders from nations such as Italy, Britain, India, France and Germany. The G-7 groups Britain, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, plus the European Union.
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