In brief remarks to Japan’s parliament on Wednesday, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky appealed to the Asian nation’s memories of a nuclear disaster and chemical weapons attack in an attempt to persuade lawmakers there to increase support for his country during the Russian invasion.
Over the course of 12 minutes, the Ukrainian leader warned that the Russian invasion could cause a nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, evoking memories of the 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which led thousands of displaced people and countries like Germany to build their own. reconsider the use of nuclear weapons. flow.
He also hinted at another national tragedy by warning that Russia could use chemical weapons, such as the nerve agent sarin, in Ukraine. In 1995, members of a Japanese cult used the chemical in an attack on the Tokyo subway system that killed 14 people and injured nearly 6,000.
And he thanked Japan for being the first Asian nation to take action against Russia after its invasion and urged lawmakers to continue sanctions against the country.
Zelensky told lawmakers that the Chernobyl invasion had made it a “war zone,” adding that “when the war is over, it will take years to assess the extent of the environmental damage.” He said the war could have dangerous consequences for another 15 nuclear reactors at four sites in Ukraine.
While the Japanese government and the public have been committed to defending Ukraine, it is unclear what additional measures the country can take, whose pacifist constitution limits its ability to respond.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after the speech that he would consider increasing humanitarian aid to Ukraine and adding further sanctions against Russia.
Japan, along with the United States and other countries, has imposed economic sanctions on Russian companies, leaders and prominent businessmen, and has supplied non-lethal equipment, such as helmets, to the Ukrainian military.
Japan’s rush to action stands in stark contrast to its behavior during the previous Russian invasions of Crimea, Georgia and Ukraine, when Japanese politicians were criticized for taking a soft stance against the aggression of their neighbors.
Japan and Russia are embroiled in a long-standing territorial dispute over islands in northeastern Japan, off the coast of Hokkaido. Japan’s long-serving former prime minister Shinzo Abe had gone to great lengths to build a relationship with Russia’s President Vladimir V. Putin in an effort to resolve the controversial issue of ownership of the islands.
On Monday, Russia said it had ended negotiations with Japan on the issue, as well as efforts to sign a peace treaty that would formally end the conflict between the nations of World War II.