Arrangements are underway for Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, who is in Ukraine, to meet with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday.

Iwaya plans to use the meeting to convey Japan's intention to continue supporting Ukraine and maintaining tough sanctions against Russia for its invasion.

Japan's assistance to Ukraine will likely include providing power-related equipment to help people survive the coming severe winter. Russian forces have launched a series of attack on power infrastructure in Ukraine.

Iwaya is also hoping to share with Zelenskyy Japan's concerns over military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang, including the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia.

Zelenskyy said earlier this month that North Korean soldiers had participated in battles against his country's forces in the western Russian region of Kursk, and suffered losses. Ukrainian troops are conducting a cross-border incursion into the region.

Iwaya entered Ukraine by train via Poland. He visited a church in Bucha on Saturday. It is the town near the capital Kyiv where many civilians were killed in the early days of Russia's invasion. He placed flowers at a cenotaph to pay tribute to the victims.

Iwaya later moved to the city of Irpin, also near the capital. He inspected what remains of a bridge destroyed by the Ukrainian side to block advances of Russian forces.