Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Monday his country will be taking a neutral stance regarding the breakdown in relations between Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and President Donald Trump.

During a Lower House Budget Committee meeting, Ishiba expressed surprise, The Japan Times reported, at the heated exchange between Trump and Zelenskyy on Friday at the Oval Office, which ended with Zelenskyy's abrupt departure from the White House without a key minerals deal being signed.

Since then, the U.S., which is trying to broker a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia, has paused all military aid to Kyiv and Trump has criticized Zelenskyy for saying a resolution to the three-year-old war "is still very, very, far away."

"From what I saw on TV and in the news, I can't help but wonder how this could have happened," Ishiba said in response to a question about his views on the spat.

But Ishiba sought to strike a balance for Japan, the only Asian member of the Group of Seven advanced economies, as it has a longstanding alliance with the U.S. and has been a supporter for Ukraine's effort at repelling Russian aggression in the war.

"We have no intention of taking sides, but I think it is most important that the G7 remains united," he said. "We would like to make further efforts to see how we can retain American involvement and how we can ensure the unity of the G7 as a whole."

Ishiba said Saturday that Japan "must do everything it can" to prevent division between the U.S., Ukraine, and the G7 nations, according to the Times.

"This is not something for which emotions should clash," he said, adding that diplomacy "backed by compassion and perseverance" must be employed if peace is to be achieved.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi, the Japanese government's top spokesperson, reiterated Ishiba's stance Monday, according to the Times. He told a news conference that Tokyo was watching the "various developments taking place among the international community ... with great interest."

Hayashi declined to comment when asked if Japan might play a logistical or material support role in any possible peacekeeping framework. But he said Tokyo would "continue to work closely with the G7 and other countries."

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