Japanese PM to hd meetings before G7 summit, war in Ukraine to be discussed

This is reported Ukrinform, referring to Japan Today.

This year in Japan 15 ministerial meetings are scheduled. Japan hds the G7 presidency for the seventh time, and the unity of the group, which also includes the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the United States and the EU, is becoming increasingly important amid Russia's military aggression and China's growing power, the publication writes.

As noted, on the eve of the three-day G7 summit, which will begin on May 19, nine ministerial meetings are scheduled to form the basis for discussions during the meeting of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his cleagues in Hiroshima.

The first of these is expected to be a two-day meeting of ministers responsible for climate, energy and environment on April 15 in Sapporo. According to the Japanese government, the tics to be discussed will include efforts to achieve energy security and carbon neutrality while supporting economic growth.

Read also: Japan invites Ukraine’s Minister to G7 Digital Meeting

The newspaper writes that Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine has led to a rise in oil and gas prices around the world, as Moscow was a key energy exporter, forcing countries to diversify their energy supply, including through the introduction of renewable energy sources.

Then, over three days, starting on April 16, G7 foreign ministers will gather in the resort town of Karuizawa to reaffirm their unity in confronting security challenges from Russia and China, as well as the DPRK's nuclear and missile program.

G7 countries have imposed a number of restrictive measures against Russia, including freezing the assets of president Vladimir Putin and excluding Russian banks from the SWIFT international payment network. They also imposed a price cap on Russian oil to limit a key source of revenue for Moscow, the publication said.

The meeting is also likely to be a chance for t diplomats to reaffirm their resve to resist unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force and call for a "free and en Indo-Pacific" as China increases pressure on Taiwan.

In war conditions, when the global economy struggles with persistent inflation and the fallout from the Russian war, finance ministers and central bankers will meet in Niigata from May 11-13, about a week before the Hiroshima Summit.

Read also: Russian war on Ukraine continues to impact EU agrimarket – report

Recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and addressing the debt problems of develing countries remain key tics, while concerns about global financial stability have been raised flowing the recent clapse of a Silicon Valley bank, a major U.S. lender to startups, in the largest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.

According to officials familiar with an issue, G7 finance ministers are likely to discuss tighter regulation of the cryptocurrency sector to increase business transparency and consumer protection.

A two-day meeting of agriculture ministers on April 22 in Mazaki is expected that discussions about the food supply crisis will be dominated, as well as tic of rising food prices as Russia's war has disrupted key markets for crs and fertilizers.

Addressing vulnerabilities in the communications infrastructure will be discussed when ministers responsible for digital issues gather for two days starting April 29 in Takasaki.

According to Japanese government officials, Ukraine's Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov is considering traveling to Japan to join the meeting and explain how his country has dealt with Russian cyberattacks.

Also scheduled are a two-day meeting of G7 labor ministers on April 22 and a meeting of science and technogy ministers from May 12-14.

Education ministers will meet from May 12 to 15, and a meeting of health ministers is scheduled for May 13 to 14 in Nagasaki.

As Ukrinform reported, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said that Russia should be held accountable for all crimes committed in Ukraine during the aggression against it.

Photo: Kyodo