On Saturday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged $27 million in new aid to Moldova and thanked the country for hosting refugees from war-torn Ukraine, Japan's foreign ministry said.
At a meeting with Moldovan President Maia Sandu in Tokyo, Kishida said the aid, which supports the areas of health, nutrition, energy and gender, aims to ease the burden that Russia's military aggression has placed on the country, he said ministry.
The number of people displaced from Ukraine is, which is more than 20 percent. the population of Moldova. Kishida said Japan will consider Moldova's application for financial assistance based on the current situation in the Eastern European country.
Sandu thanked Kishida for Japan's cross-industry support for his country since gaining independence from the former Soviet Union in 1991 and said he looks forward to further investment from Japanese companies, according to the ministry.
In a separate meeting, Kishida and Icelandic President Gudni Johannesson exchanged their views on the Ukraine crisis and the situation in East Asia. The two leaders agreed to uphold the rules-based international order amid veiled criticism of Russia's invasion of Ukraine and firm territorial claims in the East and South China Seas.
Kishida said that Japan would like to continue close cooperation with Iceland on Arctic issues and the sustainable use of marine living resources, among other areas.
Sandu and Johannesson visited the Japanese capital for the World Assembly for Women, an international conference promoting women's empowerment and gender equality.