A delegation of Japanese government officials visited Moscow last week to discuss the interests of Japanese companies still operating in Russia, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
The visit, one of the few publicly disclosed official business missions between the two countries since the start of the war in Ukraine, highlights the challenges facing countries that imposed sanctions on Russia but continue to maintain economic interests in areas like energy and commodities.
Japan joined Western sanctions against Moscow in 2022, yet some Japanese companies remain active in Russia and the country continues to import liquefied natural gas from the Sakhalin-2 project under a sanctions exemption.
Japanese officials said the trip was aimed at addressing issues related to protecting corporate assets and did not involve talks on expanding economic cooperation.
The delegation met officials from Russia's Economic Development Ministry and Industry and Trade Ministry, as well as representatives of business organizations, people familiar with the discussions told Bloomberg.
