US Demands Japan Completely Stop Russian Energy Imports

As part of its strategy to increase economic pressure on Russia, the United States has turned its attention to its key ally in Asia, Japan. Washington has officially demanded that Tokyo completely cease importing Russian energy. This was announced by US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent after a meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Katsunobu Kato. "Minister Kato and I also discussed important issues in the economic relations between the US and Japan and the administration's expectation that Japan will stop importing Russian energy," Bessent wrote on his X microblog.

The meeting took place on October 15 in Washington within the framework of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund, as well as meetings of the G7 and G20 finance ministers, which emphasizes the official and serious nature of this demand.

This move follows recent statements by US President Donald Trump, in which he pressured India and China to abandon Russian oil. While Trump claimed that India had already given its consent, in Japan's case, the demand sounds more direct and categorical, as an allied obligation.

This demand from Washington puts Tokyo in an extremely difficult situation. Japan, being a country poor in natural resources, is heavily dependent on energy imports. Although Tokyo has significantly reduced its dependence on Russian energy resources since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, a complete refusal from them remains a serious challenge for the country's energy security and economy.