Russia Gives Warning To Japan To Stay Out Of Ukraine Crisis
By Donald Standeford, Correspondent - Follow -
Date Published: January 23, 2022 10:00PM UTC
Last Modified: January 23, 2022 10:00PM UTC
MOSCOW - The Russian Foreign Minister's office has warned Japan to stay out of the Ukraine crisis after Japan warned that it was ready to take 'strong actions' regarding Russia's actions regarding Ukraine and U.S. officials stated the U.S. has a 'close alignment' with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
The office of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov expressed their 'puzzlement' regarding what they called the 'inadmissibility and senselessness' of Japan's warning.
Lavrov's office stated "We reviewed with puzzlement the reports that at the Japan-US summit yesterday, the Japanese side attempted to threaten Russia with some ‘strong actions".
"‘in close coordination with the US and other allies’ at that, in the Ukrainian context" the office added in a Facebook post that was translated by Russian state media.
"The inadmissibility and senselessness of such statements, as well as their counter-productiveness for the atmosphere of Russian-Japanese relations and dialogue, are obvious" it stated.
A senior Biden administration official spoke to reporters on Friday and stated "They were in very close alignment on the challenges that Russia is presenting to Ukraine".
"I think Japan — the prime minister complimented the president on his handling and made clear that Japan would be fully behind the United States in the challenging days ahead" the official said.
"Japan indicated that it — that the United States and Japan are closely aligned on concerns about Russian threats".
"Prime Minister Kishida welcomed and thanked President Biden's leadership in sending such a clear message, deterrent message, with respect to Russia's potential actions in Ukraine, indicated that Japan would be with the United States going forward.
We did not get into the specifics about possible, you know, steps that would be taken in the event that we see these actions transpire", the official stated.
