(MENAFN) Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday that Tokyo will carefully assess its legal framework and defense capabilities before committing to Ukraine’s security needs.

His remarks followed NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s statement that around 30 nations, including Japan, are working on a framework of security guarantees for Kyiv, Kyodo News reported.

“We will play our role appropriately by considering what we can and should do within our legal framework and capabilities,” Ishiba said. “At this point, we cannot say specifically what we are going to do.”

The Japanese leader also praised US President Donald Trump’s diplomatic push to end the war, including his White House meeting on Monday with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and several European leaders.

According to Rutte, Trump also spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, paving the way for a bilateral meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy ahead of a planned trilateral summit.

Leaders attending Monday’s talks included UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, and Finnish President Alexander Stubb.

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