Press Conferences

Foreign Minister MOTEGI Toshimitsu: I have one announcement regarding the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt’s visit to Japan.

The Egyptian Foreign Minister Abdelatty will be visiting Japan from today, June 2, to June 5, as a guest of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA). On this occasion, we will hold a Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue.

As you are aware, Egypt remains one of the main mediators between the U.S. and Iran. In April, I had a telephone call with Minister Abdelatty, discussing primarily the situation surrounding Iran.

During Minister Abdelatty’s visit, I hope to hold in-depth discussions focusing on cooperation for advancing stability and prosperity across the Middle East region, including the situations surrounding Iran and Gaza, in addition to bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas.

That concludes my opening remarks.

Kyodo News, ONDA: I would like to ask about the U.S. and Iran. Iran said it suspended ceasefire negotiations with the U.S., while President Trump announced that the talks are continuing. First, could you please share your views on this situation? Additionally, the state-run Iranian news agency reported that, during a telephone call with Prime Minister TAKAICHI, President Pezeshkian stated that Iran “will strive to ensure that the transit of Japanese ships occurs smoothly and with greater ease.” Please tell us about Japan’s response going forward, including whether Japan intends to enhance communication between the diplomatic authorities.

Foreign Minister MOTEGI: As you are aware, there have been various reports and announcements every day, and we continue to monitor the developments surrounding the talks between the U.S. and Iran with great interest, including relevant reports, announcements, and statements.

We are not merely closely watching the developments with interest. Japan strongly hopes that an agreement will be reached as soon as possible and is making diplomatic efforts to this end. On May 22, I held a telephone call with Foreign Minister Araghchi of Iran for the sixth time since the situation arose, during which I strongly urged Iran to ensure free and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, as well as to continue showing maximum flexibility and promptly resume talks with the U.S.

Following this telephone call, last week on May 26, a Japan-U.S. Foreign Ministers’ Meeting took place on the margins of the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting. During the meeting, I conveyed to Secretary Rubio that it is important that an agreement, including on the stability in the Strait of Hormuz, be achieved as soon as possible between the U.S. and Iran, and we reaffirmed that Japan and the U.S. would maintain close coordination on the matter.

Furthermore, during the Japan-Iran Summit telephone call yesterday, Prime Minister TAKAICHI strongly requested again that the free and safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz be realized as soon as possible for vessels of all countries, including Japan and other Asian countries. Japan views positively the forward-looking statement made by President Pezeshkian.

Japan will persistently pursue necessary diplomatic efforts, including continuous communication with Iran, in order to achieve an early agreement between the U.S. and Iran and restore free and safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.

Pan Orient News, Azhari: Israel has occupied a significant part of southern Lebanon, which includes the heritage citadel of Al Shuqaif, where Israel has raised its flags as if it considered the area Israeli territory, which means annexation. France has condemned Israel for that invasion. What is Japan's position on that invasion? Furthermore, Japan has an important principle of opposing the invasion of other countries and the changing of the status quo by force. Does this apply to Israel, or only to Russia?

Foreign Minister MOTEGI: Japan expresses grave concern over the continuing exchange of attacks between Israel and Hezbollah, which has resulted in casualties among civilians and medical personnel as well as the continued destruction of civilian infrastructure, even though the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Lebanon remains in place and further dialogue between the two countries is underway.

We are also seriously concerned about the expansion of the ground operation in Lebanon by the Israel Defense Forces, and once again strongly call for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity to be respected. In any case, Japan continues to strongly urge all parties concerned to fully implement the ceasefire agreement.

Given that the situation varies from region to region, I believe it is difficult to make simple comparisons.

Hokkaido Shimbun, MURAKAMI: I would like to ask about NATO’s framework for supporting Ukraine, the “Prioritised Ukraine Requirements List (PURL).” Japan contributed approximately JPY 2.2 billion to PURL to fund the purchase of non-lethal equipment. Could you please explain once again the purpose of joining this framework? Second, senior officials from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the MOFA visited Russia on May 26 and May 27. They requested the protection of Japanese corporate assets and reaffirmed the importance of continuing dialogue while keeping the sanctions in place. Could you please tell us why the announcement on Japan’s contribution of funding to PURL was made immediately after the government officials’ visit to Russia? Third, as Japan continues its support for Ukraine and its sanctions against Russia, I would like to ask about the outlook for the resumption of political-level dialogue between Japan and Russia.

Foreign Minister MOTEGI: As to why Japan decided to make this contribution, Japan has continued to promote its support for Ukraine in order to achieve a just and lasting peace there as soon as possible.

From this perspective, Japan has recently contributed JPY 2.2 billion for a package of non-lethal equipment under the PURL, NATO’s Ukraine support framework.

Regarding the timing of the announcement, it is unrelated to the government officials’ visit to Moscow. We made this announcement because the coordination with NATO was completed. There is absolutely no connection between this matter and their visit.

With regard to your question on political-level contacts between Japan and Russia, there are no specific plans at this stage.

Our bilateral relations are certainly in a difficult situation, but I believe that it is precisely in such challenging times that communication between Japan and Russia is more important.

From the perspective of appropriately managing our relationship with Russia, our neighboring country, Japan remains open to communication, including between diplomatic authorities. Our position has not changed.