Japanese Prime Minister Kishida: Phone conversations with Putin on the situation in Ukraine made sense

Fumio Kishida. Photo: Pool / Reuters

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida explained why he had telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the situation around Ukraine. He spoke about this while speaking in parliament, TASS reports.

Kishida answered a question from an opposition MP who doubted that the conversation between the heads of state had produced any results. He said that now countries around the world are making efforts to reduce tensions in Ukraine, and Japan is no exception. “With this realization, I held telephone conversations with Russian President Putin. And from this point of view, the negotiations made sense,” he said.

The Japanese prime minister added that during the conversation with the head of Russia, he urged him to refuse to change the current situation by force. He also explained that, in his opinion, the situation around Ukraine is a problem not only for European countries, but for the entire international community, including Asia.

On February 17, Kishida phoned Putin and discussed the situation in Ukraine with him. Details of the telephone conversation have not yet been disclosed.