Japan Envoy Meets with Ukraine's Foreign Minister

Moscow, April 3 (Jiji Press)--Japanese Ambassador to Ukraine Toichi Sakata held a meeting with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Deshchytsia in Kiev on Thursday. This was the first meeting between a Japanese government official and a minister of Ukraine's pro-European Union interim government launched in late February. Russia's annexation of Crimea is a clear violation of international law, and Japan can never tolerate any attempt to change the status quo with force in the background, Sakata told Deshchytsia. Sakata confirmed Tokyo's planned assistance worth up to 150 billion yen to Ukraine announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a Group of Seven summit in The Hague, the Netherlands, on March 24, according to officials of the Japanese embassy in Kiev. The Japanese diplomat also urged Ukraine to make sure that the May 25 presidential election in the country will be conducted in a fair manner. Deshchytsia thanked Japan for the assistance and said his country will strive to ease tensions mainly through direct talks with Russia. END