Tokyo today called on Moscow to “formally apologize” to it after the arrest and alleged ill-treatment of its consul general in Vladivostok, who Moscow accused of espionage.
They are “on a tightrope”. Russia-Japan relations. Tokyo on Tuesday called on Moscow to “formally apologize” after the arrest and alleged ill-treatment of its consul general in Vladivostok, who Moscow accused of espionage.
Russian security services announced on Monday that they had arrested Tatsunori Motoki while he was accepting “classified information about cooperation” between Moscow and an Asian country, “in exchange for a monetary reward.”
The Japanese diplomat was declared persona non grata in Russia and ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.
Japanese government spokesman Hirokazu Matsuno today categorically rejected allegations of espionage, and said the Russian ambassador in Tokyo had been summoned to the foreign ministry to protest the treatment of the Japanese diplomat, which Matsuno said violated the treaty. of Vienna for consular relations.
Matsuno alleged that Russian agents “during his detention blindfolded and both hands the (Japanese) official and pressed his head to the ground in such a way that he could not move, then he was interrogated in an authoritarian manner.”
At the same time, the representative of the Japanese government added that Tokyo protested “strongly” about these “unbelievable actions”.
The Japanese diplomat has now been released and will leave Russia by Wednesday.
According to Russian security services, Motoki wanted to arrange meetings between sources and then pay for them in order to obtain information “on cooperation” between Moscow “and a country in the Asia-Pacific region.”
According to the same source, the Japanese diplomat also tried to gather classified information about “the effects of Western sanctions on the economic situation” in the Vladivostok region.
In retaliation over economic sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine, Russia in early May banned more than 60 Japanese officials, including Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, from entering its territory.
An end to exports of goods that can be used for the manufacture of chemical weapons in Russia, Japan also announced yesterday. This additional sanction against Moscow comes as it is “deeply concerned” after it threatened to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine, according to presidential minister Hirozaku Matsuno.
Soon after, Russia accused the Japanese diplomat of espionage.
Russian-Japanese relations worsened in April when Japan announced, for the first time since 2003, that the Kuril Islands, in the northern part of the archipelago, were “under the illegal occupation” of Russia. Because of this territorial difference the two countries have not signed a peace treaty since World War II.
AMPE –
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