Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered an online speech to Japanese lawmakers on Wednesday evening, raising the specter of nuclear disaster in his country while praising Japan as a “leader" in Asia for its response to the Russian invasion.
"You were the first in Asia to put real pressure on Russia to restore peace, who supported the sanctions against Russia. And I urge you to continue to do so," Zelenskyy, wearing a military jacket, told a packed audience via livestream.
The charismatic Ukrainian leader also sought to appeal to his Japanese audience by alluding to key moments in the nation’s modern history: atomic bombings at the end of World War II, the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and a chemical weapons attack in Tokyo.