G-7 agrees on need to reduce energy reliance on Russia

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Energy ministers from the Group of Seven developed nations on Thursday agreed to step up efforts to reduce their dependency on oil and gas imports from Russia over the long term, as its continued assault on Ukraine in defiance of international condemnation has raised concerns about supplies worldwide.

Japanese industry minister Koichi Hagiuda said they also agreed to promote diversification of their energy sources, including using nuclear power and renewable energy, when he met the press after attending an extraordinary online meeting.

“The situations vary from country to country and it will be tough to change the direction immediately, but we agreed that we should aim to lower our reliance on Russia in the future,” Hagiuda said.

Japanese industry minister Koichi Hagiuda attends an online meeting of energy ministers from the Group of Seven developed nations at his ministry in Tokyo on March 10, 2022. (Kyodo)

The Japanese minister also underscored that they pledged to keep working together closely and flexibly respond to energy issues resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that led to the imposition of a slew of sanctions against Moscow.

The ministers from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States plus the European Union agreed to call on oil and gas producing countries to increase output, according to a Japanese government official.

The meeting was also joined by Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko, who called for support from the G-7 nations and their partners, according to Hagiuda.

The meeting was held amid surging energy prices and after the United States on Tuesday banned imports of Russian crude oil, certain petroleum products, liquefied natural gas and coal in the latest round of sanctions against Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine beginning Feb. 24.

The European Union, which is highly dependent on Russian energy, has also announced a plan to phase out its reliance on Russian fossil fuels before 2030.

Canada has decided to continue not purchasing any crude oil from Russia, and Britain has said it will cut Russian oil imports in stages by the year-end.

Meanwhile, resource-poor Japan remains cautious about joining Western nations in taking a similar step.

Asked about Japan’s response to the U.S. ban, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters on Wednesday that ensuring stable energy supplies is a “national interest,” while expressing his readiness to coordinate with other G-7 nations in deciding on Tokyo’s approach.

Hagiuda said his G-7 counterparts showed understanding of Japan’s position during Thursday’s meeting.

In light of its geographical vicinity and the necessity to decentralize supply sources, Japan had promoted energy imports from Russia.

Russia accounted for 3.6 percent of Japanese crude oil imports, and 8.8 percent of its liquefied natural gas imports in 2021, according to data from the Japan External Trade Organization.

Working in lockstep with other G-7 nations, Japan has rolled out a series of sanctions against Russia, such as excluding seven Russian banks from the SWIFT global payments network to disrupt the country’s trade and money transfers.

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