$5.5-bn Japanese aid for war-hit Ukraine

Kishida echoed Zelensky that people need help to rebuild their daily lives as infrastructure has been badly damaged by Russian attacks in the last one year.

Ukraine is receiving massive support from the expected quarters. Whereas the NATO is arming it up, Japan has committed to help the country financially and for that it would lend $5.5 billion in financial aid. It has been one year since the Ukraine crisis started in February 2022; however, there is no headway where the conflict is going. The situation could, however, escalate as Russia keeps warning the countries against their help to Ukraine.

The announcement came from the Japanese Prime Minister Kishida during an online Group of Seven summit with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Showing his sympathies with the Ukrainian citizens Kishida said that it has been one year and they are still suffering under the Russian invasion.

Kishida echoed Zelensky that people need help to rebuild their daily lives as according to him infrastructure has been badly damaged by Russian attacks in the last one year.

Japan joins US, EU to sanction Russia

Not just that the Japanese government has come with the financial package to help Ukraine in its efforts to salvage the crisis, it has also joined the USA and EU in sanctioning Russia. The USA has already delivered multibillion dollar financial help and upped its weapons supply to strengthen Ukrainian defence forces. Similar assistance has come from European nations.

Japan has lent financial aid to Ukraine and placed economic sanctions on Russia as it worries from the Chinese unilateral efforts to change the status quo in the South China Sea. It sees Russian invasion of Ukraine could set a template for the Chinese authoritarian regime that has been vying for Taiwan and planning an invasion for quite some time.

Situation in South China Sea could become dangerous

The situation in the Far East could be dangerous if China is left unchecked; however, this could not be done without the help of the US and since the latter is already fully supporting Ukraine, Japan has little choice. Whereas Chinese military strength has gone significantly up, defence budget is only second to the US, Japan is nowhere in terms of both standards.

Even the Japanese Prime Minister Kishida acknowledged that he made a decisive move because of strong concern that Ukraine may be tomorrow's East Asia. He considers Russia's invasion a challenge for the entire rules-based international order. He said that he will again be holding a meeting over the Ukraine issue with the G-7 members in the coming days.