Kremlin slams Japan's 'unfriendly' stance amid oil price cap talk

The Kremlin criticised Japan on Wednesday over what it called a "very unfriendly position" towards Russia, saying this hampered the development of economic relations, including in energy.

Japan has joined its Western allies in slapping sweeping economic sanctions on Russia over its actions in Ukraine. Moscow has also been annoyed by reports that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has proposed capping the price of Russian oil at around half its current level.

"Japan is taking a very unfriendly position towards Russia. In any case, such an unfriendly stance does not help to facilitate relations on trade and the economy, including the energy dialogue," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We discussed Mr Kishida's proposal yesterday and have said that this is only an initiative announced, there were no consolidated decisions taken," Peskov said. "It is doubtful whether such decisions could be taken, frankly speaking."

Commenting on Kishida's reported comments, Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedevwarned on Tuesday that global oil prices might exceed $300-$400 per barrel if the price cap proposals were implemented. 

Medvedev also said Japan "would have neither oil nor gas from Russia, as well as no participation in the Sakhalin-2 LNG project" as a result, pressuring the shares of Mitsui & Co and Mitsubishi Corp.

The idea to cap purchasing price for Russian oil was first voiced by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last month and was later discussed by the G7 nations, with the final agreement and the level of the cap yet to be announced.