Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko in Tokyo on Wednesday and reaffirmed that Japan is committed to resolving the crisis in Crimea, adding that it will bring the issue to the Group of Seven summit next month.
The prime minister’s comments allude to Japan’s need to keep relations with the United States balanced, even as Abe hopes to make an unofficial visit to Russia in May to make progress on a territorial dispute.
At the joint news conference, Abe said Japan urged Ukraine to fully implement the Minsk agreement. The original Minsk cease-fire deal was reached between Ukraine and Russia in September 2014, six months after Moscow annexed Crimea. But it failed within days of the signing with the resumption of sporadic clashes.
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