US president meets Japanese premier ahead of G-7 summit

ANKARA

US President Joe Biden on Thursday met with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio in Tokyo ahead of the G-7 summit to discuss a variety of regional and international issues, focusing on China.

During over an hour-long meeting, they agreed on continuing to work closely together in addressing issues related to China, said a statement from the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

“The two leaders also confirmed the importance of cooperating with China on shared challenges. Furthermore, the two leaders reiterated the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and encouraged the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues,” the statement said.

Biden, who is in Japan to attend the G-7 summit, reiterated Washington's "commitment to the defense of Japan under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security, backed by the full range of capabilities, including nuclear," it said.

The two sides, the statement went on to say, concurred on continuing to work closely toward the "complete denuclearization of North Korea in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions in strengthening regional deterrence."

Regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, the two allies agreed on continuing "severe sanctions against Moscow and strong support for Ukraine in close coordination with the G-7 and other like-minded countries."

Biden, accompanied by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, reached Japan on Thursday where they first drove to a US military base, close to the G-7 summit venue in Hiroshima.

Japan hosts around 50,000 American troops under a bilateral defense pact.

“At the Marine Corps facility, the American leader spent 20 minutes greeting US troops and personnel from Japan's Self-Defense Forces,” the Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported.

The US dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima – the site of the world's first atomic bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, and then Nagasaki, which resulted in the deaths of at least 140,000 people by the end of that year. The dead include more than 20,000 Koreans.

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, however, has said that Biden "has no plans to issue an apology on behalf of the US for the use of an atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 during his trip," the Tokyo-based Kyodo News reported.