TOKYO — Japan held a ceremony on Wednesday marking its deliberate donation of about 100 army automobiles to Ukraine, as Tokyo seeks to supply gear that may be of broader army use than its earlier shipments of helmets and hazmat fits.
In a ceremony on the Defense Ministry at which two half-ton vehicles have been on show, Japanese Vice Defense Minister Toshiro Ino handed a doc to Ukrainian Ambassador Sergiy Korsunsky itemizing the three kinds of automobiles included within the donation.
“We hope the invasion ends as soon as possible and peaceful daily lives return,” Ino mentioned. “We will provide as much support as we can.”
The donation, which additionally contains 30,000 meals rations, comes as Japan’s authorities is in search of to ease its army gear switch coverage beneath a brand new nationwide safety coverage that permits its army a higher offensive function, in a significant break from its post-World War II self-defense-only precept.
While different international locations have offered Ukraine with tanks, missiles and fighter jets, Japan has restricted its donations to non-lethal gear as a result of the switch coverage prohibits the supply of deadly weapons to international locations at warfare.
Japan has offered Ukraine with bulletproof vests, helmets, fuel masks, hazmat fits, small drones and meals rations since Russia’s invasion started final yr.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged the vehicles to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once they met in Hiroshima on Sunday on the sidelines of the Group of Seven summit. Japan has additionally provided to deal with injured Ukrainian troopers at a Japanese army hospital.
The automobiles encompass half-ton vehicles, excessive mobility automobiles and materials dealing with automobiles, the federal government mentioned. The Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency mentioned the small print, together with the precise variety of automobiles and timing of their cargo, are being finalized.
Tokyo has joined the United States and European nations in sanctioning Russia over its invasion and in offering humanitarian and financial assist for Ukraine.
Japan was fast to react due to fears of a attainable affect from the warfare on East Asia, the place China’s army has grown more and more assertive and has escalated tensions round self-governed Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.
Japan has contributed greater than $7 billion to Ukraine. It has additionally accepted greater than 2,000 displaced Ukrainians and helped them with housing and assist for jobs and training, a uncommon transfer in a rustic recognized for its strict immigration coverage.
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