Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 3, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 3, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleJapan’s government dismissed a Kyodo News report that it solicited major trading houses to join a delegation to visit Russia in May, reaffirming its commitment to sanctions and clarifying no such invitation was issued.
TOKYO, April 3 (Reuters) - The Japanese government on Friday denied a report by Kyodo news agency that it has asked the country's top trading houses to join a delegation which plans to visit Russia in May.
Late on Thursday, citing sources, Kyodo said that the government is anticipating that Japanese companies will fully resume business in Russia once its war with Ukraine is over.
It added that the government has requested participation from Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Sumitomo Corp, Marubeni, as well as from Mitsui O.S.K Lines shipping company.
"As for the factual accuracy of the report, it is not true. The Japanese government will continue to implement sanctions against Russia," Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a regular news conference.
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine started in 2022 and international diplomatic efforts have not yet led to a peace deal. Japan joined a wide range of western sanctions on Russia and largely stopped importing oil from there after 2022.
Japan's dependence on the Middle East, which supplies over 90% of its oil needs, is being challenged as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran stops shipments via the Strait of Hormuz.
Japan's industry ministry said separately it did not make any such requests to trading companies. Marubeni declined comment, other companies did not immediately reply to a Reuters request for comment.
(Reporting by Katya Golubkova, Tamiyuki Kihara, Kaori Kaneko and Kentaro Okasaka; Editing by Kim Coghill)
No, the Japanese government has denied asking trading houses to join a delegation to Russia in May.
The report mentioned Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Sumitomo Corp, Marubeni, and Mitsui O.S.K Lines.
No, Japan continues to implement sanctions against Russia and has not announced a resumption of business.
Japan is maintaining sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine.
Japan has largely stopped importing oil from Russia and relies mainly on the Middle East for its oil supplies.
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