Japanese PM Kishida offers Ukraine support as China’s president backs Russia

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, and Emine Dzhaparova, First Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine shake hands at the railway station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 21, 2023. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has made a surprise visit to Kyiv, stealing some of the global attention from Asian rival President Xi Jinping of China, who is in Moscow to show support for Russia against the West over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

The two visits, about 500 miles apart, highlighted the war’s repercussions for international diplomacy as countries line up behind behind Moscow or Kyiv.