Exclusive interview of the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Ukraine Kuninori Matsuda to the Interfax-Ukraine agency

Authors: Oleksandr Martynenko, Valerie Proschenko

 

Japan will hold the presidency of the G7 in 2023. And as ambassador you will organize work G7 Ambassadors' Support Group for Ukraine. Japan has really rapidly spoken out against Russia's aggression in Ukraine. What kind of assistance can Ukraine expect from Japan in economic, military and humanitarian areas?

Before directly answering your questions, let me briefly explain Japan's basic policy toward this war. Prime Minister Kshida has articulated right after the war that there is no more business as usual with Russia. In other words, we have to completely change our stance toward Russia. And based on that, first, we have embarked on robust sanctions against Russia. And second, as you said Japan started to provide assistance, which covers humanitarian assistance, financial and budget assistance, as well as military assistance.

Now, I think that I need to make a quick footnote when it comes to military assistance. Because of the law, we cannot provide weapons, per se, but instead, it is the first time the Japanese government has decided to provide non-lethal equipment which include drones and helmets and bullet-proof jackets and winter clothes and many other equipment, including personal medical kits and personal ratios. So we continue to expand the list.  And currently we are in a discussion with Ukrainian counterparts about the possibility of providing dual purpose technologies.

The third pillar by which we continue to support Ukraine is diplomatic efforts. In other words, starting from the Prime Minister of Japan and the Embassies, we are reaching out to those countries that have not yet decided their position toward this war or those countries which still maintain neutrality. Those are the targets for our diplomatic approach. So, we try to convince them to support Ukraine or participate in international sanctions regimes.

And when it comes to the assistance, we have already provided $1.1 billion and we assume going to provide another $500,000,000 assistance. And still we are considering other packages of assistance.

About the energy sector. The Government of Japan decided to provide Ukraine grant assistance in the form of generators and solar lanterns for $2.5 million worth. Has assistance been delivered in Ukraine?

It's already delivered. This is the first shipment. With this money, we have already delivered 60 generators as well as 83,500 solar lanterns or solar lights. I think that next week we're going to receive the next shipment of the generators and in January we are going to receive the third shipment of generators. So, we continue to provide the generators up to hundreds.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has informed that Ukraine, Cambodia and Japan are working on a trilateral project to help conduct demining work in Ukraine. What is this project?

Demining is one of our top priorities. Because whatever you need to do for the recently liberated territory, the first thing is to demine the land and make sure that this is safe enough for people to come back or for starting economic and social activities. Right now we cannot bring in our own Japanese experts. But instead, we, Japan, Cambodia and the Ukrainian side came up with a trilateral program. It includes training to Ukrainian de-miners and equipment that is provided by Japan. And I suppose that the Ukrainian side has already selected the group of experts who will be sent to Cambodia and if it is necessary, further sent to Japan for receiving training.

And in the meantime, we started to ship the equipment for demining. So I hope this trilateral model is going to be quite effective for the time being until we can bring our own experts.

Does Japan support the condition of Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism? It is a very important point for Ukraine now.

Yeah, of course. We repeatedly condemn Russia for intentionally targeting private citizens and private infrastructures, including civilian infrastructures, energy-related infrastructures. This is a clear violation of international law and international humanitarian law. And those who are involved in these crimes should be brought to justice. And in this case, first, we provided financial support for ICC (International Criminal Court) for opening their case against those who are responsible. So, the government of Japan is closely collaborating and working with ICC, including the crime of genocide. This is our stance.

And what do you think about the establishment of a special tribunal on the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine, not only ICC?

Yeah, we fully understand the argument behind the Ukrainian government's intention to consider setting up this special tribunal. And to be honest, we have not yet decided on our position. That's why we are in close contact both with the Ukrainian government and also with like-minded countries to receive more information. And recently I had a series of talks with Ukrainian officials who are directly involved in this scheme of international tribunal.

You know about Ukrainian proposals for peace, the so-called "peace formula". President Zelensky talked about this in the meeting with President Biden a few days ago. What is Japan's attitude to the "peace formula"?

We are fully aware of this ten-point "peace formula" and based on that summit. And as a matter of fact, we welcome the initiative because it signifies clearly the strong commitment of the Ukrainian side on ending this war with the withdrawal of the Russian troops. And it’s against the narrative of the Russians who pretend to say that they're on the side of peace and the Ukrainians are against ceasefires and peace. I think that this formula clearly articulates the very basic position of the Ukrainian government. So, we welcome the initiative, and for that matter, we are continuing to receive more detailed information about how and when and where and with what purpose to convene this peace conference. And based on that information, we’ll continue to work with G7 countries as well as like-minded partners.

The next question is about sanctions against Russia. Will Japan join the further sanctions against Russia to set the maximum price for Russian oil? Because oil for Japan is a very important source of energy.

We were involved in creating this price cap on oil imports from Russia. We fully support this. And we decided to participate because this is a well sought policy of the first decrease in oil revenues for Russia but at the same time somehow finding a way to help vulnerable countries which rely on oil. So, I do hope that this price cap on oil will be well effectively implemented. And in the future, if it is necessary Japan is open-minded to reviewing and revising current regimes.

You know that Ukraine initiates the issue of depriving Russia of permanent membership in the United Nations secured account. We understand it is very difficult but maybe Japan has its own ideas what to do with Russia’s membership in the Security Council?

Even before this war started, for many years, Japan was and is and will be the staunchest supporter of the UN reform and particularly the UN Security Council reform. How can we achieve the UN Security Council reform? It is not an easy task but there is one thing that clearly shows the necessity of reform. And that is this war. Because a member of the UN Security Council started unilateral aggression.This is not anticipated by the founding fathers of the United Nations. So, I think that it is high time for us to come back to the UN Security Council reforms in whatever way. In that matter we encourage Ukraine and many other countries to come up with specific proposals and ideas.

Some newspapers reported that most Japanese companies that had been operating in Russia before the war ignored calls to leave the market. Is it true? What is the Japanese government doing with such business?

It is true that before the war there were quite a few Japanese companies fiscally located inside Russia, and also many companies did trade with Russia and had accumulated investment. Now we started and the Prime Minister determined that no more business as usual and we brought in the sanction regimes.

First of all, the government of Japan continues to provide the necessary information about Japanese businesses, so that Japanese businesses can and should take necessary steps. Steps include decreasing trade or suspension of the trade or withdrawal from the Russian market. And I don't have the latest number, but as of summer, more than 50% of the Japanese companies inside Russia have already changed their business relations with Russia. And we continue to encourage them to look into the new policy.

The Verkhovna Rada has recently admitted the Kuril Islands as occupied by Russia territory of Japan. How important is this decision for Japan?

This is very important and is very helpful for us because any territorial dispute, including this particular dispute between Russia and Japan, needs recognition, understanding, and support from a wider range of the international community. Now, to be honest, the territory dispute quickly froze. So for that matter, we appreciate Rada's initiative and followed by the Presidential Office statement for increasing recognition and understanding of our positions. This is very meaningful and helpful for us.