“We will undertake even more efforts to support Ukraine”, – Matsuda Kuninori during the meeting with Ihor Klymenko
Today, on 20 May, Ihor Klymenko, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, met with a Japanese delegation headed by Matsuda Kuninori, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine. The event was also attended by Bohdan Drapiatyi, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. 
The discussion focused on mine clearance and support for Ukraine amid the enemy’s shelling of Ukraine’s critical and civilian infrastructure.
At the beginning of the meeting, Ihor Klymenko, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, briefed the partners on the demining situation in Ukraine and the need for the SESU EOD experts to demine the territories once again, as the enemy is shelling the areas where humanitarian demining had already been carried out:
"Ukraine is the most mine-polluted country in the world today. And the enemy continues to contaminate our territory with ammunition every day. In the Kharkiv region alone, about 300 hectares of territory have already been cleared through the use of humanitarian demining machines, yet we have to do it once again. The situation is the same in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions".
In his turn, Matsuda Kuninori, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine, reassured that the position on supporting Ukraine remains unchanged and that his country will continue to help.
“We are very regretful to hear that you will face the need to further demine your territories. However, we will continue to help you. We have provided and continue to provide you with special cameras for investigations, we are also talking about supplying forensic equipment, special vehicles, medical equipment for your hospitals, and generators. In addition, we are committed to demining – we are supplying you with mine detectors and other necessary equipment for this process,” – said Matsuda Kuninori, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine.
“We would like to reassure you that we will exert even more efforts to provide additional support to Ukraine. In particular, we are ready to provide you with assistance in the form of materials and training on demining,” – added Matsuda Kuninori.
At the end of the negotiations, the parties also discussed Ukraine’s urgent needs and potential assistance package in the context of a full-scale invasion.
“We would like to express our gratitude to Japan for supporting us every day. You have an incredible team and we are ready to work together with you to jointly deter such a powerful enemy as russia,” – summed up Ihor Klymenko, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.
Communications Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
