Motegi Presses Lavrov to Free Detained Japanese Reporter in Atlanta

Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (official portrait, 2024). Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi demanded that Russia immediately free a detained Japanese newspaper correspondent when he met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Friday, Oct. 30, in Atlanta, on the sidelines of the Group of 20 foreign ministers’ meeting hosted by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The Motegi Lavrov meeting was the first in-person talks between the two countries’ foreign ministers since September 2021.

“Regarding the detention of a Japanese national in Sakhalin Oblast, Minister Motegi strongly demanded the immediate release,” Japan’s embassy in Washington said in a statement quoted by Reuters and published by The Japan Times. Russia’s account of the talks, released through its Foreign Ministry, did not mention the reporter, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.

What each side said about the Atlanta talks

The meeting lasted about 30 minutes, the Yomiuri reported, citing Japan’s Foreign Ministry. Beyond the detained journalist, the Japanese statement said Motegi “strongly called on Russia to take positive actions toward achieving a just and lasting peace in Ukraine,” and that the ministers “would maintain communication, even amid the severe situation in Japan-Russia relations.”

According to the Asahi Shimbun, Japan’s Foreign Ministry said Motegi also made representations and arguments “based on the Japanese government’s position” on bilateral issues, including the Northern Territories (translated from Japanese). Those are the four islands off Hokkaido that the Soviet Union seized at the end of World War II and Russia now administers as the southern Kuril Islands.

Moscow described the encounter differently. Russia’s Interfax news agency cited the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying “a brief talk” was held at Japan’s request and that “the Russian side emphasized that the resumption of full-fledged interstate dialogue requires Tokyo to give up unfriendly policies,” the Japan Times/Reuters report said. The Yomiuri reported that Moscow framed this as a call for Japan to lift the sanctions it imposed after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Neither government’s account of what the other minister said has been independently confirmed.

The detained Hokkaido Shimbun correspondent

The journalist, identified in media reports as Yuki Imai, is believed to be a correspondent for the Hokkaido Shimbun, a regional newspaper based in Japan’s northern island, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in an Oct. 14 statement calling for his release. Russia’s FSB security service said he was arrested on Oct. 13 on Sakhalin and flown to Moscow, and that a criminal case had been opened under Article 276 of Russia’s criminal code, which covers espionage and can carry up to 20 years in prison, CPJ said, citing Russian news agency TASS !Unverified claim, TASS (Russian state media).

Interfax quoted an FSB operative as saying the reporter had been collecting “information regarding the number of mobilized individuals and volunteers from the Kuril Islands participating in the special military operation,” according to CPJ. That is an allegation by Russia’s security service !Unverified claim, FSB via Interfax (Russian security service), and no evidence has been made public. The BBC, citing Interfax, reported that he would be held in custody until Dec. 12 before trial, CPJ added.

Staff from Japan’s embassy in Moscow held a consular visit with the journalist at a Moscow detention facility on Oct. 26, the Yomiuri reported. Russia is holding at least 30 journalists in connection with their work, according to CPJ.

U.S. role: talks on American soil and a State Department rebuke

The talks took place in the United States during a gathering hosted by Rubio. The State Department said on Oct. 19 that it “condemns” the detention, Kyodo News reported. “The United States condemns any attempts to intimidate, harass, and punish journalists and independent voices,” a department spokesman said in response to a question from Kyodo.

Motegi also met Rubio on Oct. 30 and thanked him for the State Department’s criticism of Russia over the case, the Yomiuri said. The two ministers agreed to keep communicating about the International Criminal Court, which is under U.S. sanctions. Our G20 Atlanta live coverage tracked the wider meeting, and our report on the U.S.-Japan-South Korea talks in Atlanta covers the three-way session on North Korea.

Context: a relationship at a low point

The detention marked “a new low” in ties that had already worsened in recent months, Reuters wrote. Japan and Russia have never signed a formal peace treaty ending World War II because of the island dispute. Tensions rose further when Japan joined Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, and Russia now lists Japan as an “unfriendly” country. The two still trade, with Japan buying Russian liquefied natural gas, Reuters noted.

Russia unilaterally suspended peace treaty negotiations, including talks on the Northern Territories, in response to Japan’s sanctions, the Yomiuri noted. Motegi and Lavrov had only exchanged a few words at an international meeting in the Philippines in July, the paper said.

What to watch

• Whether Russia’s courts extend the journalist’s custody past the Dec. 12 date reported by Interfax, or set a trial date.
• Whether Moscow responds to the release demand publicly; its readout of the Atlanta meeting left the case out.
• Whether the two foreign ministries follow through on their stated plan to keep communicating.

Sources

• The Japan Times (Reuters): Japan demands release of national in meeting with Russia’s Lavrov
• Yomiuri Shimbun (Japanese): Japan-Russia foreign ministers meet in person for first time in five years
• Committee to Protect Journalists: Russia detains Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage
• Kyodo News: U.S. “condemns” detention of Japanese journalist by Russia

Additional sources

• Asahi Shimbun (Japanese): Motegi seeks reporter’s immediate release in talks with Lavrov
• Kyodo News: Latest news summaries, Oct. 31, 2026