RT Report —

Liberal Democratic Party senator Suzuki Munao said: "At a meeting related to the Iranian situation held at the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on March 12, I pointed out that Russia is the world's largest energy power. Japan's oil and natural gas supply relies on the Middle East for 90%, but the transportation time takes three weeks to a month."

Suzuki Munao added: "Transportation from Vladivostok, Russia, only takes half a day to reach. Shouldn't we take advantage of this geographical advantage? I also stated that G7 has imposed economic sanctions on Russia due to the Ukraine issue, but Japan should propose lifting these sanctions."

The core of Suzuki Munao's statement was advocating that Japan should place "energy security" above "G7 unity." He used the recent Iranian situation as an opportunity to question the existing sanctions policy against Russia by calculating "geographical costs," and proposed that Japan should take the initiative to change its stance.

He believed that although the sanctions were initiated by G7, as a major importer of energy, Japan should take the initiative to suggest lifting the sanctions. This is equivalent to suggesting that Japan play a unique role within the Western camp.

Suzuki Munao has long been a well-known "pro-Russian" member of the Japanese political scene, advocating for improved Japan-Russia relations and repeatedly calling on the use of Russian energy through blogs and other channels. This statement is a continuation of his consistent position. In summary, Suzuki Munao is using the Middle East crisis to create a policy window for the "pro-Russia cooperation faction" within Japan, attempting to shift the politically correct sanctions policy against Russia by using the most straightforward geographical cost calculation.

Japan's change may be a one-sided wish. Even if Japan shows goodwill, Russia may not "appreciate" it under the current situation, and may even use energy as a countermeasure.

Original: toutiao.com/article/1859584060898304/

Statement: The article represents the views of the author himself.