European Union chiefs Ursula von der Leyen and Charles Michel on Thursday welcomed Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Brussels for a two-hour summit on economic, trade and climate issues.
Security matters in the Asia-Pacific region -- including relating to China and North Korea -- were also on the agenda.
The brief meeting was being held after the three leaders attended a two-day NATO summit in Lithuania that wrapped up on Wednesday.
Japanese officials said the talks would deepen cooperation "especially in the field of security, including economic security, and in the economic field, including digital and countermeasures against climate change".
Kishida was expected to use the opportunity to urge the EU to lift regulations on Japanese food imports.
EU officials said the three would look over a digital partnership agreement, which includes a memorandum of cooperation on semiconductors -- an area where Europe wants to diversify suppliers and onshore more production.
The two sides would also look at deepening cooperation on climate, notably on hydrogen production to lower carbon output.
Officials said both the EU and Japan intended to underline their condemnation of Russia's war in Ukraine, as they already had at the NATO summit.
© Agence France-Presse
Sign In