Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Japan News/Yomiuri
The Japan News/Yomiuri
Politics
The Japan News

Zelenskyy calls for intl solidarity to pile up pressure on Russia

Members of the Diet listen as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivers a virtual address to a conference room in a Diet members' office building in Tokyo on Wednesday. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gave an online address to the Diet on Wednesday, expressing gratitude to Japan for providing aid and for adding pressure on Russia.

"Japan immediately gave us a helping hand and I appreciate it from the bottom of my heart," Zelenskyy said. "Japan was the first country in Asia that started to put pressure on Russia."

Zelenskyy stressed the horrible situation in Ukraine in the wake of Russia's invasion.

This screengrab, from the House of Representatives' Internet TV, shows Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivering a virtual address to a conference room in a Diet members' office building in Tokyo on Wednesday. (Credit: The Yomiuri Shimbun)

"Of the thousands of people killed are 121 children," he said.

"A barrage of airstrikes has been carried out and dozens of cities have been reduced to rubble," he said. "Families and neighbors were killed in many cities, but we cannot even bury them properly."

Zelenskyy also criticized Russia's seizure of the area around the Chernobyl reactor site, which had a meltdown in 1986. Russian armored vehicles stirred up radioactive dust that spread around the area, he said.

He also emphasized the importance of protecting the people and their country.

"All ethnic groups and the public need to make efforts to protect borders and safety as well as the future of children and grandchildren," he said. "We need to send a strong message to invaders that peace must not be destroyed. I hope Japan will maintain its sanctions against Russia."

This was the first time that the head of a foreign nation has given an online address to the Diet.

The 12-minute speech was delivered in Ukrainian and simultaneously interpreted into Japanese by staff of the Ukrainian Embassy in Japan.

Because no screens are set up in the Diet chambers, a 276-seat conference room in a Diet members' office building of the House of Representatives was used as the main venue, where Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi were among the lawmakers in attendance for the livestreamed speech.

Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.