About 4% of Japanese oil imports come from Russia. Japan has also announced phasing out Russian coal imports…reports Asian Lite News
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says Japan will slowly phase out Russian oil imports in unity with the Group of Seven’s effort against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Leaders from the G-7 countries met online Sunday and announced their commitment to ban or phase out Russian oil imports in their latest effort to pressure Moscow into ending its aggression on Ukraine.
It’s an extremely difficult decision for a country that mostly relies on energy imports, including oil, Kishida told reporters Monday. But G-7 unity is most important right now.
Kishida said it will be a gradual and slow process of phasing out Russian oil imports and that details and timeline will be decided later as the process requires securing alternative energy sources.
About 4% of Japanese oil imports come from Russia. Japan has also announced phasing out Russian coal imports.
Japan will not ban imports from its own stakes in oil and natural gas projects in Russia, including those in Sakhalin, Kishida said.
G7 slams Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “unprovoked war of aggression” in Ukraine has brought “shame on Russia and the historic sacrifices of its people,” the G7 group of wealthy nations said Sunday in a statement.
“Russia has violated the international rules-based order, particularly the UN Charter, conceived after the Second World War to spare successive generations from the scourge of war,” said the statement, made as the G7 met by videoconference and commemorated the end of World War II in Europe.
“We remain united in our resolve that President Putin must not win his war against Ukraine,” it said.