In a speech at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida of Japan stood before an eternal flame and a cenotaph commemorating the victims of the atomic bomb that devastated this city in 1945 and reiterated his hope for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

“Dreams and ideals are different. Ideals are within reach. Towards the ideal of our children, grandchildren, and descendants living on a planet free of nuclear weapons, from here Hiroshima, from today, each and every one of us, as Hiroshima citizens, step by step, let’s take realistic steps forward,” he said.

Yet such a vision seemed distant, with Russia having issued veiled threats about using nuclear weapons in it swar with Ukraine, and North Korea continuing to build up its arsenal.

Kishida hailed the appearance of Ukraine’s President,Volodymyr Zelensky, at the G7 summit, saying it offered a chance for the leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies to “demonstrate the unwavering solidarity between the G7 and Ukraine, and to send a strong message to the world that the G7 affirms the importance of a free and openinternational order based on the rule of law”.

Noting global challenges, including climate change, Kishidasaid that the world’s richest democratic nations must reach out tothe “global South”.

New York Times News Service