the ukrainian war acquires interest in Asia. While Xi Jinping and Putin strengthen their relations and call for collective strategic cooperation, the Japanese president visits Ukraine, fueling criticism and mistrust of the great Asian power.

The major Asian powers thus stealthily position themselves in the war in Ukraine a year after the start of the invasion while the United States admits to monitoring China ‘closely’ due to its proximity to the Kremlin and Putin once again muscled up with a ‘mission’ with two bombers patrolling the airspace over neutral waters of the Sea of ​​Japan during the visit of the Japanese president to Ukraine.

For the first time since February 24, 2022, Fumio Kishida has traveled to the Ukraine to meet with Zelensky, and it has done so in the same time frame in which the Chinese president is on a state visit to Russia.

Fumio Kishida has landed in Kyiv to meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodimir Zelenski, according to images broadcast by the Japanese state channel NHK. “On this visit to Ukraine, Prime Minister Kishida will pay his respects to Zelensky for his courage and the perseverance of the Ukrainian people“, has exposed the Japanese Foreign Ministry, which has detailed that, as a member of the G7, “the prime minister will directly convey solidarity and unwavering support to Ukraine.”

it is not usual for a Japanese leader to pay an official visit to a foreign country without prior announcement. Kishida had been planning a possible trip to Ukraine since the beginning of the year, according to local media, which also noted that the trip could not be scheduled well in advance or made public for security reasons.

However, the visit of the Japanese president to Ukraine coincides with that of the Chinese, Xi Jinping, to Moscow. Xi Jinping met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for an informal lunch on Monday after Beijing presented an initiative to fix the conflict between russians and ukrainiansand he did it again this Tuesday, coinciding with the visit of the Japanese.

Kishida has been approving a series of sanctions against Russia such as the freezing of assets of senior officials government, including the country’s prime minister, Mikhail Mishustin. “We will firmly reject any unilateral change of the status quo through aggression and force by Russia, and we will reaffirm our determination to uphold the international order based on the rule of law,” the Japanese Foreign Ministry added.

The Japanese prime minister is the only G7 leader to has not met face to face with Zelensky since the Russian invasion began over a year ago. The leaders of the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy and France have visited kyiv, while US President Joe Biden met Zelensky in Washington last December.

Xi approaches positions with his “old friend” Putin and invites him to China

For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Putin to visit the country this year, he himself reported at the beginning of his meeting in Moscow with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. “Yesterday I invited President Putin to visit China this year at a time convenient for him, since China will host the third international forum under the Belt and Road Initiative this year,” Xi was quoted as saying by the official TASS news agency.

Xi said that the new Chinese premier, Li Qiang, will give priority to developing the partnership with Russia. The Chinese head of state also called on Mishustin to visit China “as soon as possible.”.

Xi arrived at the Russian government headquarters, known as the White House, before moving to the Kremlin to meet again with Putin and the respective delegations of the two leaders.

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has stressed the importance of Xi making his first post-reelection foreign visit to Russia. “This demonstrates the special nature of Russian-Chinese relations. entering a new era. Today, his talks with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, will take place in the Kremlin. It is planned to make important decisions on the development of Russian-Chinese cooperation in the medium term up to 2030,” he assured.

The United States warns that it will watch China “very closely”

China’s display of muscle has been assessed as a threat by the United States. White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre has assured that China will be watched “very closely” after her visit to Moscow.

“We are concerned that China will once again call for a ceasefire that let russian troops inside ukrainian sovereign territoryor, and any ceasefire that does not include the withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine would ratify Russia’s illegal conquests,” the spokeswoman said.

In this sense, he has affirmed that the US authorities “encourage President Xi to play a constructive role by speaking with President Zelensky, something he has not done since Russia began the invasion”, in addition to “encouraging” the Chinese president to “put pressure” directly on Putin to “respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

The spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States, John Kirby, has pointed out in this sense that the position of the United States regarding the future of the relationship between China and Russia “It’s a marriage of convenience, not a loving one.”