TOKYO: The Japanese government announced on Monday that Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will participate in an online meeting of the G7 countries this week, with the discussions focusing on efforts to de-escalate tensions between Russia and Ukraine.

According to sources, Kishida stated that he will make every effort to deescalate and finally settle the problem on the Russia-Ukraine border in coordination with the G7 and other members of the international community.  "While the situation remains severe," he stated in Parliament, "Japan will continue to make diplomatic efforts with other countries to calm tensions."

According to government sources, Kishida asked Russian President Vladimir Putin last week to find a "acceptable" diplomatic solution to the current standoff and conducted a teleconference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during which a number of key subjects were discussed.

Meanwhile, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno announced Kishida's participation in the Thursday meeting, which will be hosted by Germany. Matsuno said at a press conference on Monday that the administration has been pressing Japanese nationals in Ukraine to leave and is taking steps to do so.

He stated that as part of its efforts to evacuate Japanese people, Japan has chartered an aircraft near Ukraine. According to local media, there were about 120 Japanese nationals in Ukraine as of today.

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