It benefits from the weakening of Russia: what are the prospects for cooperation between Ukraine and Japan

Japan can reasonably take third place place after the USA and Germany in terms of the amount of assistance to Ukraine. In December 2023 alone, the Ukrainian state received more than $2 billion from this country.

Political scientist Igor Reiterovich announced this Channel 24, noting that this money went to the budget. A significant part of them are grant funds, so they will not need to be returned.

“In 2024, I think that this support from Japan will definitely not be less “Perhaps there will even be more,” said the political scientist.

Ukraine has good contacts with Japan. If earlier in a year only a few Ukrainian students who studied Japanese could get to study in this country, then after a full-scale invasion, 4 hundred students went to Japan in the first months alone. They were given the opportunity to study at the best universities in the country and with full support.

Japanese relations with Russia

They and Russia are de facto at war. After all, after the end of World War II, the Soviet Union never signed an agreement with Japan. But Russia considers itself “the legal successor of the Soviet Union.” Accordingly, they are de facto at war,” Reiterovich emphasized.

In addition, there are territories that Russia occupied. We are talking, in particular, about the island of Sakhalin. Therefore, this is a very important issue for the Japanese. They look at what Russia is doing in Ukraine and feel a certain deja vu, because they have been living with this problem for many decades.

Vladimir Putin actually stated during one of his speeches that Russia sees what “the Japanese are doing in the Far East.” Therefore, they say, the Russians are “ready to repel attacks.” Meanwhile, Japan reacts calmly to this. The country has never publicly said that it is ready to fight for islands occupied by an aggressor country.

The weakening and defeat of Russia in Ukraine could lead, for example, to two scenarios. The most primitive is a radical change in power and the arrival of democrats with whom the Japanese can come to an agreement. Or the collapse of Russia altogether. And then the islands occupied by the aggressor country may want to return to Japan.

“The real weakening of Russia is usually globally beneficial for Japan, since they will pay less attention to strengthening their presence in the Far East,” the political scientist noted.

Cooperation with Ukraine

The fact that Japan allowed the transfer of missiles to the United States for the Patriot air defense system indicates that the country set aside certain conventions and unambiguously took a position about support for Ukraine. In addition, Japanese ministers regularly come to the Ukrainian state.

So we are talking about the prospects for cooperation and its expansion. For example, not only in the economic sphere, but also in the military.

“That is, in fact, Japan does not supply Ukraine with weapons, but it either invests or finances those areas of our industry, in particular, that will produce certain products that will help us better cope with this Russian aggression,” added Igor Reiterovich.

This country is seriously focused on supporting Ukraine. This is how Japan can help with post-war reconstruction. This is an opportunity for investment, which in the future will bring dividends.

Ukraine not will be able to receive weapons directly from Japan. After all, they have laws prohibiting doing this. For example, as in South Korea, it cannot transfer or sell weapons to countries at war.

Japan has already found a mechanism and is transferring Patriot air defense missiles to the United States. That is, in this way the country actually relieves itself of responsibility for where the weapons end up.

If we justify to them the need for something, perhaps they will find a mechanism that will allow us to obtain weapons. It will just be passed on by others,” the political scientist emphasized.

Relations between Ukraine and Japan

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