Japan has confirmed that it will phase out imports of Russian crude oil but will retain its interest in the Sakhalin 1 and 2 Russian oil and natural gas projects.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said the ban would take time, hours after he joined other Group of Seven (G7) leaders to impose a ban on crude over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.
In a call with the other G7 leaders he said his government had decided to ban imports of Russian oil “in principle,” according to a statement from Japan’s Foreign Ministry.
“It’s an extremely difficult decision for a country that imports most of its energy, but this is a time when G7 unity is more important than anything,” Kishida said.
The G7 statement did not reveal any timeline apart from that it will happen in a “timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies”.
Japan is effectively the only G7 country that does not already have a ban on Russian oil, and, according to Reuters, Russian oil imports accounted for only 4% of Japan’s imports.
“When it comes to the effect on the tanker market, instead of sailing the short distance between the Russian East Coast and Japan, the oil now is likely to be imported from the Middle East, which is nearly ten times longer,” said Clarkson Platou Securities.
Separately, the G7 called on Russia to end its blockade and all other activities that further impede Ukrainian food production and exports, in line with its international commitments.
“President Putin’s war against Ukraine is placing global food security under severe strain. Failure to do so will be seen as an attack on feeding the world,” the G7 added.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said his country remains committed to working closely with G7 members to support Ukraine’s macroeconomic stability in the face of the challenges posed by the full-scale Russian invasion, and massive destruction of critical infrastructure and disruption of traditional shipping routes for Ukrainian exports.
The G7 member countries comprise the US, the UK, Canada, Japan, Germany, France and Italy, plus the European Union.
