Russia’s FSB security service said on Monday it had arrested a Japanese diplomat working in the eastern city of Vladivostok for allegedly engaging in espionage-related activities and declared him a person of interest, reports said. local news agencies.
“A Japanese diplomat has been arrested after receiving classified information about Russia’s cooperation with another country in the Asia-Pacific region for money,” the FSB said in a statement.
“A protest has been lodged with the Japanese side through diplomatic channels,” the FSB said in a statement posted on its website.
“Motoki Tatsunori was declared persona non grata for activities incompatible with diplomatic status,” he added.
The diplomat also requested information on “the impact of Western sanctions” on the eastern region of Primorye, the FSB said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the aforementioned diplomat had been ordered to leave the country within 48 hours.
The FSB released a short video in which it says the diplomat admits breaking Russian law.
Russia considers Japan a “hostile” country. Moscow has also included all EU countries, the United States and its other allies, including Britain and Australia, on this list.
Since Vladimir Putin launched a war in Ukraine on February 24, Tokyo has imposed a series of sanctions on Moscow and expelled Russian diplomats. Russia responded in kind.
Before the invasion of Ukraine, Tokyo’s relations with Moscow were complicated. Japan and Russia never signed a peace treaty after World War II, with a dispute over four islands claimed by Moscow in the final days of the conflict continuing.
The aforementioned islands, located off the northern coast of Japan’s northernmost island, Hokkaido, are called the Southern Kuril Islands by Russians and the Northern Territories by Japanese.
Source: The Delfi
