Japan continues to participate in a number of oil and gas projects in Russia, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
According to her, the Japanese side has not completely stopped its participation in energy projects, despite Tokyo's accession to sanctions against Moscow.
Zakharova pointed to Japan's presence as an example of how economic interests continue to play an important role even against the backdrop of serious political disagreements.
Japan is among the G7 countries that imposed sanctions on Russia after the start of the war in Ukraine. At the same time, Tokyo has maintained a stake in some energy projects in Russia that it considers important for its own energy security.
Moscow has regularly cited this stake as evidence that Western sanctions have not led to a complete severance of economic ties with Russia.
The issue is particularly important because of the importance of Russian liquefied natural gas and oil resources for Asian energy markets.