Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said “there is no such fact” when asked whether Japan was conducting espionage in Russia, following the recent detention of a Japanese journalist in Russia’s eastern Sakhalin region on suspicion of spying.
Russia’s security agency the FSB said on Wednesday it had detained a Japanese journalist working for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper in its far eastern Sakhalin region the day before he planned to leave the country. Russia's Foreign Ministry identified the journalist as Yuki Imai.
“We do not yet know the details or the nature of the allegations or what the Russian side is referring to, as the two countries have different interpretations under international law. However, Japan will make sure to clearly communicate its position,” Takaichi said when asked about the case.
The case adds to long-running tensions between Russia and Japan, which have yet to sign a formal World War Two peace treaty due to a territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories.
Those tensions heightened when Japan joined Western sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine, with Russia regarding Japan as an "unfriendly" country. But business ties remain with Japan a purchaser of Russian liquefied natural gas.
