Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke with the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and both agreed that both countries will continue to provide decisive support to Ukraine, Kyodo reported, quoted by BTA.
Yesterday, before leaving for Germany, Kishida also held bilateral talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb and his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoff.
Kishida's first face-to-face meeting with Starmer since Britain's Labor Party won a landslide election victory last week, ending 14 years of Conservative rule, took place on the sidelines of a NATO summit in Washington.
As during their phone conversation over the weekend, the two agreed to work closely together on a number of bilateral and regional issues, such as continued sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine and the project with Italy to develop a fighter jet from next generation, the Japanese Foreign Ministry announced.
According to Japan's foreign ministry, Kishida told Stubb that Finland's accession to NATO last year ensured increased bilateral cooperation through the transatlantic alliance and Washington. The leaders agreed to strengthen cooperation in the field of modern science and technology, including the development of 5G and 6G wireless networks, and supercomputers - areas in which both countries have made significant progress, the ministry said.
During Kishida's meeting with Schoff, the prime ministers of the two countries discussed the crisis in Ukraine and other important security issues and confirmed that they will work in closer cooperation, with next year marking The 425th anniversary of the beginning of trade exchange between Japan and the Netherlands, the announcement said.