Atlanta, Oct. 30 (Jiji Press)–Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Friday demanded the immediate release of a reporter for Japan’s Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper detained by Russian authorities, in a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said. The meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, was the first between the Japanese and Russian foreign ministers since the reporter was detained Oct. 13. The reporter was transferred from the Sakhalin region in Russia’s Far East to Moscow, where Japanese embassy staff held a consular meeting with him Monday. The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the two top diplomats held a brief meeting at Japan’s request and discussed bilateral relations. Lavrov argued that Japan must abandon its unfriendly stance toward Moscow for dialogue between the two countries to resume. The Russian announcement made no mention of the Japanese reporter’s detention. At their meeting, Motegi and Lavrov also discussed the situation in Ukraine, with the Japanese minister urging Russia to take positive actions toward achieving a “just and lasting peace.” Russia’s Federal Security Service, or FSB, detained the Hokkaido Shimbun reporter on suspicion of espionage. The agency claims that the reporter, acting under instructions from Japanese intelligence authorities, was gathering information on soldiers mobilized for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine from the Kuril Islands, which Moscow claims include the four northwestern Pacific islands at the center of its long-standing territorial row with Japan. Also on Friday, Motegi met with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Atlanta and expressed gratitude over the Department of State’s condemnation of the Russian detention of the Hokkaido Shimbun reporter. The two also exchanged views on the international situation, including in the Indo-Pacific region, and on Washington’s growing pressure campaign against the International Criminal Court. They agreed to maintain close communication. At a separate meeting, Motegi and his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, agreed that restoring free and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, both key global trade waterways, is an urgent priority. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
