WASHINGTON: Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Saturday he told Western powers that East Asia could be the next Ukraine, as he urged a united front on a rising China and bellicose North Korea.

Kicking off Japan’s year as head of the Group of Seven, Kishida visited leaders of all members of the elite club except Germany, where he plans to go soon following a scheduling conflict. Closing his trip in Washington, Kishida said he shared with G7 leaders his “strong sense of crisis regarding the security environment in East Asia.”

“The lesson of Ukraine has taught us that the security of Europe and the Indo-Pacific are inseparable,” Kishida told a news conference a day after meeting President Joe Biden.