Japan will 'take time' in banning Russian oil, will keep stake in Sakhalin project
Calling it a tough decision for his country, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil due to the ongoing Ukraine conflict will "take time" and that Tokyo has no plans as of now to back out from large oil and gas extraction projects with Moscow in the Russian Far East. Kishida made the comment in Tokyo on Monday morning, only a few hours after attending the Group of Seven (G7) Summit video conference which lasted for about 70 minutes from midnight (Japan time). The meeting was held at the behest of Germany, which holds the G7 presidency this year, and was attended by the leaders of G7 countries and also the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a joint statement released today, the G7 leaders committed to phase out dependency on Russian energy, including by phasing out or banning the import of Russian oil in "timely and orderly fashion", and in ways that provide time for the world to secure altern