MOSCOW, August 5 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday it had postponed indefinitely a meeting between deputy foreign ministers of Russia and Japan following another round of anti-Russian sanctions.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Igor Morgulov was expected to meet with his Japanese counterpart Shinsuke Sugiyama in late August.
“However, we think that holding such a meeting would be inappropriate against the backdrop of new anti-Russian sanctions. Due to this, the consultations have been cancelled. We have informed the Japanese side,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry released a list of 40 individuals and two entities affected by new sanctions against Russia over Ukraine that were approved by Japan’s Cabinet earlier Tuesday.
Japan imposed sanctions on Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych, as well as on 39 high-profile Crimean officials and a Crimea-based Chernomorneftegaz oil and gas company, as part of the third round of sanctions against Russia.
The sanctions also affect the representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.
Japan was the last G7 member to apply sanctions against Russia. In March it stopped talks with Russia on the easing of visa requirements, and denied visas to Russian officials on April 23, without making their names public.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has already said it considers the new sanctions unfriendly. Moscow pointed out that the new sanctions brought Russia-Japan relations a few steps back, something that Tokyo should realize.
