Abe at nuclear security meeting

March 23, 2014

Abe leaves for Netherlands to attend Nuclear Security Summit

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140323p2g00m0dm004000c.html 

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe departed Sunday for the Netherlands to attend the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague.

On the sidelines of the conference, Abe is expected to attend a trilateral summit with U.S. President Barack Obama and South Korean President Park Geun Hye, possibly on Tuesday, during which the three are expected to confirm their cooperative stance in addressing North Korea's nuclear and missile issues.

"I hope I can engage in a frank exchange of views over security in East Asia, and I expect (the trilateral summit) to become the first step to establish a future-oriented Japan-South Korea relations," Abe told reporters prior to the departure.

Abe is also scheduled to take part in a meeting of leaders of the Group of Seven major nations, at which they will discuss how they should support Ukraine following Russia's annexation of Crimea.

"I will closely work with other G-7 nations (over the Ukraine issue), while communicating with Russia," he said.

Japanese government sources said Abe will announce during the G-7 meeting that Japan will provide around 100 billion yen in economic assistance to Ukraine in cooperation with other countries and the International Monetary Fund.

March 23, 2014(Mainichi Japan)