Why is Japan hosting a conference for Ukraine reconstruction when it’s still at war? AP explains.

TOKYO (AP) — Japan is hosting a conference for Japanese and Ukrainian officials to discuss reconstruction of Ukraine just ahead of the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion, while the U.S. and other Western countries are still focusing on military aid for the battlefield. Hundreds of senior officials and executives are attending the Japan-Ukraine Conference for Promotion of Economic Growth and Reconstruction in Tokyo. AP explains the event, its purpose, who’s attending and the projects being discussed.

WHO ARE ATTENDING?

The conference is co-organized by the Japanese and Ukrainian governments, Japan’s powerful business organization Keidanren, and the Japan External Trade Organization, or JETRO.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is heading his country’s delegation of more than 100 government and corporate officials, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy planned a video message. First Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko, Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko and Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Minister Ruslan Strilets are attending.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is leading Japan’s side, joined by Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Economy and Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito, and Keidanren chair Masakazu Tokura, among many others. About 100 officials from Japanese companies, the majority of them startups but from also leading companies like Kawasaki Heavy Industry, farming equipment makers Yanmar Holdings and Kubota Co., and telecoms company Rakuten Symphony also are attending.

WHY NOW?

Japan hopes the conference will help build support for Ukraine as the war drags on after two years, at a time when attention has been diverted to the situation in Gaza. Officials in Tokyo say the global community should