Japan maintains its presence in oil and gas projects in Russia — diplomat

MOSCOW, September 14. /TASS/. Japan emphasizes the importance of energy cooperation with Russia and maintains its presence in oil and gas projects on Russian territory, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in an interview with TASS.

The diplomat noted that Tokyo maintains and reaffirms the importance of its relations and energy cooperation with Moscow, "in particular, on the matter of Russian natural gas for ensuring Japan’s national energy security."

"Japan maintains its presence in oil and gas projects in our country, while at the same time being one of the US' closest allies," Zakharova noted.

In this regard, the diplomat questioned the reasons behind the US’ endless attempts to "reprimand or even pressure China and India" for their cooperation with Russia, even though these and many other countries have observed that Washington "allows Japan to develop energy cooperation with Russia."

"Well, actually, I think everyone should draw the appropriate conclusions, which I am sure they will," Zakharova concluded.