Takeshi Iwaya will meet his Ukrainian counterpart, Andrii Sybiha, to reaffirm Japan’s “strong support” for Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and to discuss further sanctions against Moscow, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said.

Japan s foreign minister warned Saturday that North Korean troops entering the Ukraine conflict would have an extremely significant

Japan's foreign minister arrived in Kyiv on Saturday to discuss North Korea’s deepening military alliance with Russia, including the deployment of thousands of troops to support Moscow's war in Ukraine.

Russian forces have captured the villages of Makarivka and Hryhorivka in Ukraine's Donetsk region, Russia's Defense Ministry said on Saturday. Makarivka is located to the south of Velyka Novosilka while Hryhorivka, which Moscow calls by its previous name of Leninskoye, is situated to the west of the town of Selydove, captured by Russia last month.

North Korea has sent a substantial military force to assist Russia in its war with Ukraine. According to US government officials, there are now more than ten thousand North Korean troops on Russian soil.

Further sanctions against Moscow will be discussed when Takeshi Iwaya meets his Ukrainian foreign ministry counterpart.