Japan to provide Ukraine with drone detection system

Japan will provide an unmanned aircraft detection system as part of its aid to Ukraine under Russia's military aggression, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on July 12.

Kishida made the announcement in a speech at the ongoing NATO summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, Nippon reports.

In March, Kishida visited Ukraine and told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Japan would provide 30 million dollars in nonlethal defence equipment assistance through a NATO trust fund. This framework will be used to provide a drone detection system.

In Wednesday's speech, Kishida pointed out that the international community is at a historic turning point. While referring to a Group of Seven agreement at a Japan-chaired summit in May to strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force, he vowed that Japan will further boost cooperation with other countries to maintain and strengthen a free and open international order based on the rule of law.

The Japanese leader also said that the security of Europe and that of the Indo-Pacific region are inseparable. He voiced his resolve to work to strengthen ties between NATO and its four Asia-Pacific partners--Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.