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Japan has demanded the immediate release of a Japanese national detained in Russia during a rare high-level meeting between the two countries’ foreign ministers in Atlanta on Friday.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi made the demand during talks with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on the sidelines of a G20 meeting.
The meeting came following strained relations between Japan and Russia over the war in Ukraine and a long-running territorial dispute.
“Minister Motegi made a demarche and an argument regarding various current issues between Japan and Russia,” a statement from Japan’s embassy in Washington said.
“Regarding the detention of a Japanese national in Sakhalin Oblast, Minister Motegi strongly demanded the immediate release,” the statement added.
Russia announced earlier this month that it had detained a Japanese journalist in its far eastern Sakhalin region on suspicion of espionage. The detention has further strained relations between the two countries.
Japan and Russia have yet to sign a formal peace treaty following World War Two because of a territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories. Relations have also worsened since Japan joined Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. Russia has since classified Japan as an “unfriendly” country.
However, the two countries continue to maintain some business ties. Japan remains a buyer of Russian liquefied natural gas. During Friday’s meeting, Motegi also urged Russia to take steps towards ending the war in Ukraine.
The Japanese statement said he “strongly called on Russia to take positive actions toward achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine.” It added that both ministers “would maintain communication, even amid the severe situation in Japan-Russia relations.”
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Meanwhile, Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying the brief meeting took place at Japan’s request.
“The Russian side emphasised that the resumption of full-fledged interstate dialogue requires Tokyo to give up unfriendly policies,” the ministry said, according to Interfax.
Earlier on Friday, G20 foreign ministers skipped the traditional group photograph before their meeting in Atlanta after European representatives objected to Russia’s presence over the war in Ukraine.
