Muto was speaking after a recent meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato, in which Bessent called on Japan to completely halt energy purchases from Russia.
Foreign Minister Muto acknowledged Japan’s continued efforts to steadily reduce Russia’s energy dependence since Russia’s military operations in Ukraine began in February 2022, but stressed that Japan would not fully comply with Washington’s demands.
He noted that liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s Sakhalin 2 project remains important, accounting for about 10% of Japan’s total LNG imports and providing nearly 3% of its electricity generation.
“LNG from Sakhalin 2 plays a vital role in Japan’s energy security,” Muto said, stressing the need to balance sanctions with energy demand.
Despite Japan officially joining the G7 Russian oil price cap system, the Japanese government maintained its exemption for Sakhalin 2 and lowered the price cap in September to bring it closer to European limits, but still did not halt imports.
The United States is stepping up efforts to reduce Russia’s energy revenues by encouraging top purchasing countries such as Japan, India and China to reduce their purchases. The US government argues that such measures would undermine Russia’s ability to maintain military operations in Ukraine.
But India and China also insist that their import policies are based on national interests, and the U.S. request has met resistance from other countries.
Last week, EU energy ministers also agreed to implement a plan that aims to ban imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027, a move strongly supported by the US government.
The United States and its European allies have imposed financial restrictions on Russia, ranging from freezing the Russian central bank’s overseas assets to banning Russian oil exports after President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Russia is the third largest oil producer after the United States and Saudi Arabia, and is also a major gas exporter.
MNA/