Japan-UK Summit Meeting

[Provisional translation]

 

On June 28, commencing at 9:00 a.m. (local time; 4:00 p.m. on June 28 JST) for approximately 30 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, who is visiting Germany to attend the G7 Summit Meeting, held a meeting with the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The overview of the meeting is as follows.

1. At the outset, Prime Minister Kishida expressed his gratitude for the warm hospitality he received during his visit to the UK in May, and welcomed that the UK would lift its import restrictions on Japanese food products on the following day. In addition, he stated that he would like to further promote Japan-UK security and defence cooperation, including its coordination in the Indo-Pacific, touching upon the port call to the UK by Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force training vessels in the previous week. In response, Prime Minister Johnson stated the bilateral relations with shared values have been strengthened in various areas, including security, technology, and trade. He also welcomed that the UK’s import measures on Fukushima’s food products would be lifted from the following day, although it took some time.
2. The two leaders once again confirmed that they would advance the work towards an early signature of the Japan-UK Reciprocal Access Agreement, and that they would accelerate talks on the cooperation in future combat air system. Prime Minister Kishida expressed his hope for an early resolution through talks between the UK and the EU on the issue surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol to ensure that Japanese companies operating in Europe would not be affected.
3. With regards to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, the two leaders shared the view that it is necessary for the G7 to respond to the issues, including challenges in the food and energy sectors, and to support countries affected by the current situations.
4. The two leaders exchanged views on the Indo-Pacific affairs, and confirmed that unilateral change of the status quo by force is not acceptable. They also reaffirmed their continued close cooperation in dealing with North Korea’s abductions issue as well as nuclear and missile issues.