Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told President Donald Trump that banning Russian liquefied natural gas imports would be difficult during their meeting in Tokyo, the Nikkei business daily reported on Wednesday, citing Japanese government officials.
Russian liquefied natural gas accounts for nearly 9% of Japan's total LNG imports, with Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi having stakes in the Sakhalin-2 project.
Before Trump's Asia trip this week, the U.S. urged buyers of Russian energy, including Japan, to cease imports, and put sanctions on Moscow's two biggest oil exporters, Rosneft and Lukoil, in a bid to push the Kremlin into talks to end the Ukraine war.
According to Nikkei, Takaichi, elected as Japan's first female prime minister last week, told Trump that if Japan withdraws, China and Russia will only be happy, asking the U.S. for understanding of Japan's energy needs.
China and India are top buyers of Russian energy.
Japan has stepped up U.S. liquefied natural gas purchases in the last few years as it tries to diversify away from its key supplier Australia and prepare for the expiry of supply contracts with Russia's Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas project.
Most supply from Sakhalin-2 ends in the period from 2028 to 2033. Replacing those supplies would be costly and cause higher electricity prices, Japan's industry minister said last week.
Japan buys less than 1% of its oil imports from Russia under a sanctions waiver due to expire in December, with the bulk of its oil supply covered by the Middle East.
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