Working Lunch between Prime Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Šimonytė of the Republic of Lithuania (Summary)

On July 12, commencing at 11:45 a.m. (local time; 5:45 p.m. JST)  for approximately 50 minutes, Mr. KISHIDA Fumio, Prime Minister of Japan, who was visiting Lithuania to attend the NATO Summit, held a working lunch with H.E. Ms. Ingrida Šimonyte, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania. The overview is as follows.

1. Prime Minister Kishida expressed his respect for Lithuania's tireless efforts as the host country of the NATO Summit. He also stated that as the international community is in a turning point in history, he would like to cooperate in maintaining and strengthening the free and open international order based on the rule of law and further enhance the bilateral relations, which were upgraded to a "strategic partnership" during Prime Minister Šimonytė's visit to Japan last year.


2. Prime Minister Kishida welcomed Lithuania's announcement of its Indo-Pacific Strategy and expressed his wish to hold a Japan-Lithuania Security Policy Dialogue in the near future. He also stated that JETRO is scheduled to visit Lithuania and expressed his intention to further promote bilateral economic relations. The two Prime Ministers concurred to further materialize cooperation in various areas, including politics, security, and economy. The two Prime Ministers also concurred to strengthen cooperation between Japan and the Baltic countries.


3. Furthermore, the two Prime Ministers exchanged views on responding to Russia's aggression against Ukraine, regional affairs including China and North Korea, and response to challenges in the field of economic security including economic coercion, and concurred to continue to coordinate in dealing with North Korea, including nuclear and missiles issues such as today's ICBM-class ballistic missile launch as well as the abductions issue, among others.