Ukraine and Japan agreed to expand cooperation across humanitarian demining, technology integration into Ukrainian manufacturing, and new investment. The agreement was reached during a meeting between Ukraine's Minister of Economy, Environment and Agriculture, Oleksii Sobolev, and Japan International Cooperation Agency Senior Vice President, Yuko Mitsui.
Japan has been Ukraine's third-largest financial donor since the start of the full-scale invasion, with around $10 billion in support, including $955 million in grants, according to NV.
Ukraine's experience goes to other two countries
The distinctive element of today's discussion is what Ukraine is doing with that partnership — not only receiving demining capacity but also exporting its hard-won mine-action expertise to other post-conflict states through Japanese trilateral formats.
The meeting builds on the Memorandum on Humanitarian Demining that the two sides signed at the Ukraine Mine Action Conference (UMAC) in Tokyo on 22 October 2025.
Readiness to invest not only in rebuilding walls
The Ministry framed the goal as more than just equipment imports: integrating Japanese technologies into Ukrainian domestic production, starting with demining and scaling to agriculture and industry.
Discussions covered soil restoration, support for small farmers, particularly women farmers, clean-tech solutions, and processing of debris from war-related destruction.
"Japan is our strategic partner in recovery and development, and we deeply value this support," Sobolev said.
He also thanked the Government of Japan and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for systemic cooperation and "for the readiness to invest not only in rebuilding walls but in the long-term transformation of the Ukrainian economy."
Colombia–Syria trilateral efforts
Ukraine already runs a trilateral demining cooperation with Japan's JICA and Colombia's Administrative Department of the President (DAPRE), which coordinates Colombia's national efforts to reduce the impact of explosive devices on communities, Odesa Journal reported.
The Ministry said Syria is now being added to that format. The Government has also discussed parallel trilateral knowledge-exchange tracks with Belgium. The mechanism is straightforward: Ukraine shares its operational mine-action experience since 2022, and Japan provides financing.
Ukrainian humanitarian demining operators and equipment producers gain access to new markets, thereby building national capacity in mine-affected countries rather than relying solely on external operators.
