Japan may send government officials to Russia as early as the end of May to maintain communications with Moscow to support its companies that are still operating there, the trade ministry said in a post on X.
Japanese government officials are currently arranging a trip to Russia and, depending on the situation, representatives of relevant companies may also join, the trade ministry said in a post on Saturday.
¡°It¡¯s necessary to protect the assets of Japanese companies that remain in Russia,¡± the ministry said in the post. To support those efforts, the Japanese government has been making requests and maintaining government-level communications with Russia, the ministry said.
The comments come after Kyodo reported on Friday that the Japanese government is planning to send a delegation of firms to Russia to discuss economic issues in anticipation of the war in Ukraine ending. In the post on X, the trade ministry denied the report, saying Japan will continue to coordinate with Group of Seven nations on sanctions against Russia and that ¡°the current situation doesn¡¯t allow for pursuing new forms of cooperation with Russia.¡±
Kyodo first reported of the potential economic delegation to Russia last month. Japan¡¯s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara denied the plan at the time.
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