The following is from today's Sankei Sho.
I was surprised to learn from today's paper that the mayor of Kyiv was Vitali Klitschko.
I have been a boxing fan since I was a child.
Naturally, I had watched many of his fights on WOWOW's Excite Match.
When the Russian invasion was imminent, Ukraine was waiting for weapons to arrive from Germany in late January.
Then came the news of the supply of five hundred and fifty helmets.
Mayor Klitschko of Kyiv, a former heavyweight boxing champion, lashed out at the German newspaper.
The next thing they will send us is a pillow," he said.
Why is Germany, the world's fourth-largest exporter of arms, not hanging on?
The reason is that the government has adhered to its policy of not exporting to conflict zones.
Ukraine, in particular, owes a debt of gratitude to the Nazis, who inflicted significant damage on the country during World War II.
However, when the largest postwar military operation in Europe began, Germany was forced to make a significant change in direction.
Do not abandon Ukraine," it said.
Public opinion also supported this move.
The German government announced the provision of 1,000 anti-tank guns and 500 portable surface-to-air missiles to Ukraine.
But that is not all.
The government has been keeping its defense spending at around 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP), but it plans to increase this to 2% of GDP in the future.
There was another reason for Germany's weak stance toward Mouthshire.
It has relied on Russia for half of its natural gas imports.
With former Chancellor Merkel's decision to phase out nuclear power, the country has become increasingly dependent on Russian energy.
It is not good enough.
The German government is considering extending the operation of nuclear power plants that were supposed to be decommissioned by the end of this year.
The Japanese media is fond of saying that Japan should learn from Germany's example, such as its postwar cleanup, which they say was more appropriate than Japan, its large number of immigrants, and its elimination of nuclear power generation.
We have always refuted this argument, but we agree with it this time.
Japan should follow the example of Germany, which has faced up to the tense international situation and has adopted a pragmatic policy.
