<figure id="attachment_231142" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 4082px;" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-231142"><a href="#" data-ident_hash="c9e04204"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/fridaydigital/image/private/t_article_image/wpmedia/2022/02/aflo_181175842.jpg" alt=""></a><figcaption id="caption-attachment-231142" class="wp-caption-text">Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi poses for a commemorative photo at the center of foreign ministers of various countries at the G7 in Germany. However, what was released after his return was a fierce &#8220;weak-kneed&#8221; document. Photo: Representative photo/Reuters/Afro</figcaption></figure>
On February 21, the Russian government held an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, where President Vladimir Putin decided to recognize the self-proclaimed state in eastern Ukraine, which is controlled by pro-Russian groups with the unofficial support of the Russian military. He also ordered Russian troops to be deployed in the area as a self-proclaimed &#8220;peacekeeping force&#8221;.
In an effort to discourage the Putin regime&#8217;s aggression, diplomatic efforts by the international community have continued, with German Chancellor Scholz and French President Macron visiting Moscow to meet with Putin, and U.S. President Biden holding a telephone conversation with Putin. But these efforts have ended in vain.
The Japanese government has also participated in such diplomatic efforts. However, its stance is quite different from that of other major countries. While other major countries have condemned Russia&#8217;s dangerous actions and demanded the withdrawal of its troops, the Japanese government has avoided criticizing Russia by name to the hilt.
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<h2>While the international community is making desperate efforts, Japan is&#8230;</h2>
On February 19, the G7 foreign ministers met in Germany to share their concerns about Russia. According to an announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they &#8220;shared grave concerns about the buildup of Russian troops around Ukraine&#8221; and agreed to &#8220;call on Russia to work to ease tensions, including by actually withdrawing its troops. Of course, Japan&#8217;s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi agreed to this, which means that Japan has officially joined the &#8220;camp calling on Russia to withdraw its troops.
However, in the Foreign Ministry&#8217;s announcement, it was only the &#8220;G7 Foreign Ministers&#8217; Meeting&#8221; that complained to Russia, and there was no mention of criticism of Russia by name in the description of Foreign Minister Hayashi&#8217;s remarks. The Foreign Ministry&#8217;s statement is as follows
 &#8220;Minister Hayashi said that the current situation in Ukraine is an issue that concerns the fundamental principle of the international community, which is not to allow unilateral changes in the status quo by force, and that it is not just an issue of European security. He also stated that Japan consistently supports Ukraine&#8217;s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and introduced the fact that Prime Minister Kishida appealed directly to President Putin for a solution through diplomatic negotiations. He also mentioned that Prime Minister Kishida appealed to President Putin to resolve the issue through direct diplomatic negotiations. He also stated that he would continue to work closely with the G7 and the international community to address the issue.
<h2>The Reason for the Meticulously Calculated &#8220;Putin Discovery</h2>
These documents are prepared by bureaucrats who carefully calculate the language and phrasing. This meticulous &#8220;text that does not contain any direct condemnation of Russia&#8221; is a discovery by the Japanese Foreign Ministry for the Putin administration, and at the same time, a discovery for the pro-Putin faction of the Japanese political establishment. It is an appeal to the pro-Putin faction in Japan&#8217;s political circles to say, &#8220;Although the Japanese government has no choice but to participate in the G7, we are not actively condemning the Putin regime.
The same is true of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. Prime Minister Kishida had a telephone conversation with President Putin on February 17, but according to the press conference afterwards, he only asked Putin for a &#8220;peaceful resolution&#8221; and did not ask Russia to &#8220;withdraw its troops.
A reporter asked, &#8220;Any talk of economic sanctions against Russia?&#8221; He replied, &#8220;We have exchanged various opinions. Basically, the issue will be resolved through diplomatic efforts,&#8221; he replied, highlighting the fact that he is not strongly pressing Russia to withdraw its troops by clearly stating the economic sanctions promised to the United States.
According to the Foreign Ministry&#8217;s announcement, Kishida said that he was &#8220;watching with grave concern the moves to strengthen Russia&#8217;s military,&#8221; but he did not directly criticize Russia by name. But there was no direct criticism of Russia by name.
The Japanese government&#8217;s reticent diplomatic stance toward Russia has been criticized by the Liberal Democratic Party&#8217;s Foreign Affairs Committee. In particular, Foreign Minister Hayashi was criticized for attending a meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee on Trade and Economy, which promotes economic cooperation between Japan and Russia, with Russian ministers on February 15, the same day as the aforementioned Kishi-Zerensky. This was a ministerial-level meeting on Japan-Russia economic cooperation at a time when the international community was discussing how to impose sanctions against Russia. It was so insane that it was only natural that it would be criticized.
<h2>Weakness now will have a major impact on diplomacy with China in the future.</h2>
Some Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) lawmakers have expressed particular concern that if Japan does not take a firm stand against the use of military force to change the status quo now, it will be unable to say anything to the international community in the event that China invades Taiwan in the future. This is a natural concern when considering Japan&#8217;s national interest.
Moreover, the damage to the national interest does not stop there. If it benefits Russia, it will also benefit China and the entire &#8220;anti-democratic camp that is challenging democracy and the protection of human rights around the world,&#8221; of which China is a major part. This is a grave disadvantage to the entire global democratic camp, and by extension, it would greatly damage Japan&#8217;s national interests.
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In this regard, for example, there are some who think that it would be a good idea to draw Russia to Japan&#8217;s side in order to counter China, but in reality, China and Russia are both cooperating to deal a blow to the U.S. and the G7-centered Western international society, and it is impossible for Russia to side with Japan, the U.S. ally, over China. It is impossible for Russia to side with &#8220;Japan, an ally of the U.S.&#8221; over China. It is just an unrealistic wish on the part of Japan.
As mentioned above, now is the time for Japan to take a firm stance from the perspective of protecting its national interests. The acts of the Russian government, which has recognized the independence of the eastern part of Ukraine , which is the land of Ukraine, which is a legitimate independent country, without permission, and which has sent a large army to and has threatened the military The act of the Russian government that recognizes the independence of the eastern part of Ukraine without permission and sends a large army and makes a military threat must be firmly condemned against . Japan&#8217;s diplomacy, which is always running away from trouble, not only damages the stability, safety and justice of the world, but also does not serve the security of Japan. Japan&#8217;s current diplomacy is dangerous. Japan&#8217;s current diplomacy is too risky.

 Fumitaro Kuroi

 Representative photo/Reuters/Afro

 On February 21, the Russian government held an emergency meeting of the National Security Council, where President Vladimir Putin decided to recognize the self-proclaimed state in eastern Ukraine, which is controlled by pro-Russian factions with the unofficial support of the Russian military. In addition, the Russian military is being used as a self-proclaimed "peacekeeping force" in the same area.

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