Ou Okinawa Gov. Tamaki calls himself Ukrainian President Zelenskyy

NAHA Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki referred to himself as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy when he took a seat at a May 25 meeting of experts on the issue of U.S. military bases in the prefecture.

I'm Zelenskyy, before he quickly took back the words, saying it was a joke. Tamaki is expected to announce soon that he will be running for re-election in the September Okinawa gubernatorial race, but his careless remark may invite criticism.

Although Okinawa and Ukraine are far apart, as 70% of the U.S. military facilities are concentrated in Okinawa, we cannot overlook the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the perspective of sanctity of life and the danger of war, he stated at the beginning of the meeting. I strongly hope for the earliest possible restoration of peace with support from many countries. Tamaki apologized at a press conference, saying, I would sincerely apologize for making a careless remark. I don't make a lot of a statement about the situation in Ukraine.