Japan has imposed sanctions on Russia after the latter launched the invasion of Ukraine, but has always ruled out exiting a project “extremely important for energy security” of the archipelago, explained, at the end of June, the Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida. At the end of July, the Minister of Economy, Koichi Hagiuda, explained that he had “obtained understanding” of the United States on this subject.
Some 60% of the 10 million tonnes of gas extracted off the Far Eastern island are purchased by the Japanese, which covers nearly 10% of Japanese needs.