REUTERS, Tokyo

Japan will take time to phase out Russian oil imports after agreeing on a ban with other Group of Seven (G7) nations to counter Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday.

The G7 nations committed to the move “in a timely and orderly fashion” at an online meeting on Sunday to put further pressure on President Vladimir Putin, although members such as resource-poor Japan depend heavily on Russian fuel.

“For a country heavily dependent on energy imports, it’s a very difficult decision. But G7 coordination is most important at a time like now,” Kishida told reporters, repeating comments he made at the G7 meeting.

“As for the timing of the reduction or stoppage of (Russian) oil imports, we will consider it while gauging the actual situation,” he said. “We will take our time to take steps towards a phase-out.” He did not elaborate.

There have been no ships loading Russian oil for Japan since mid-April, according to Refinitiv data. About 1.9 million barrels were exported from Russia to Japan in April, 33 per cent down from the same month a year ago.

The country imported a total of 89 million barrels of oil in March.

The Ukraine crisis has highlighted Japan’s energy dependence on Russia even as Tokyo has acted swiftly and in tandem with the G7 in instituting sanctions.

The latest ban underlines a turn in Japan’s policy. Japan has said it would be difficult to immediately cut off Russian oil imports, which accounted for about 33 million barrels of Japan’s overall oil imports, or 4 per cent, for 2021.