Overview
- Masayoshi Arai of the Trade Policy Bureau and Masaki Ishikawa of the Foreign Ministry led a two-day visit to Moscow to raise practical protections for Japanese corporate assets and address limits on money transfers.
- Japanese officials described the meetings with Russia’s ministries of economic development and trade as practical and constructive and said no change to Tokyo’s post-2022 financial sanctions has been announced.
- An official of a Russian business group said its representatives held a closed-door meeting with the Japanese delegation, and Japanese sources said Tokyo likely urged companies to include government officials on the trip.
- More than 100 Japanese firms still maintain bases in Russia, and the talks focused on reducing risks to staff, ensuring payment routes, and safeguarding local operations and assets.
- The visit continues a pattern of repeated Japanese government engagement since the 2022 invasion to manage liabilities and money-flow problems for firms while balancing sanctions policy and diplomatic sensitivity.