Japan: Foreign Minister Motegi Demands Release of Detained National in Meeting With Russia's Lavrov
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers' meeting in Atlanta on October 30 and strongly demanded the immediate release of a Japanese national detained in Russia's Sakhalin region, Reuters reported, in a rare high-level meeting between the two countries.
A statement from Japan's embassy in Washington said Motegi made a demarche and an argument regarding various current issues between Japan and Russia, adding: Regarding the detention of a Japanese national in Sakhalin Oblast, Minister Motegi strongly demanded the immediate release. Russia's Interfax news agency cited Russia's Foreign Ministry as saying a brief talk between Lavrov and Motegi was held at Japan's request.
Russia said this month it had detained a Japanese journalist in its far eastern Sakhalin region on suspicion of espionage, a case GSM reported in mid-October, marking a new low in bilateral relations strained by the war in Ukraine and a long-running territorial dispute.
Japan and Russia have yet to sign a formal World War Two peace treaty due to the dispute over the Kuril Islands, known in Japan as the Northern Territories, and ties worsened further when Japan joined Western sanctions against Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 照片：俄罗斯萨哈林岛鄂霍次克海海岸，Vihljun 摄，Wikimedia Commons，公共领域 / Photo: Sakhalin coast, Russia, by Vihljun, Wikimedia Commons, public domain
