Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi said she has confirmed firm cooperation with German Chancellor Merz on Ukraine.

Hong Kong shares closed higher; the HSI rose 0.23% and the Hang Seng Tech Index gained 1.4%. Market turnover was HKD 181.43 bln. Sector winners included storage, optical communications, PCB and semiconductor stocks; online education, gas and food names lagged. Notable movers: Junzheng (03223.HK) jumped over 18%, Huiju Technology (01729.HK) rose about 14%, GigaDevice (03986.HK) climbed nearly 10%, Lanqi Technology (06809.HK) added over 9%, Huahong Hongli (01347.HK) rose over 8%; New Oriental (09901.HK) fell more than 7% and AIA (01299.HK) slipped about 2%.

Finland's president Stubb said he relayed messages from Ukraine to Russian President Putin during a phone call.