Politics Moscow condemns Japan’s ‘treacherous’ loan to Ukraine using frozen Russian assets

That must have hit a nerve!

Yesterday, Russia sharply criticised Japan, accusing it of betrayal and aiding in theft after Tokyo agreed to lend Ukraine over $3 billion for reconstruction efforts, using proceeds from Russian assets frozen due to the war. The agreement, signed on 18 April, involves Japan extending a loan of 471.9 billion yen (approximately $3.3 billion) to Ukraine. The repayment will come from profits generated by Russian assets frozen within the European Union, which amount to tens of billions of dollars. This funding falls under the G7's Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration for Ukraine (ERA) initiative, a scheme designed to provide Kyiv with $50 billion for rebuilding the country. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated during a press briefing in Moscow that the move would further harm already strained relations between Japan and Russia, tensions heightened by Tokyo's ongoing support for Ukraine, which Japan frames as a response to Russian aggression.

We have long warned the Japanese side that participation in illegitimate experiments with the sovereign assets of the Russian Federation in any form...will be regarded by us as complicity in theft," said Zakharova. "Tokyo has cynically expressed its hope that these actions will not have a negative impact on relations with Russia. We have to disappoint them - such actions will certainly and inevitably have a negative impact on relations with Russia. "We regard such a step as extremely hostile, as treacherous. It is inadmissible under both legal and universal concepts."

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A brilliant and highly moral use of seized assets!

It's not clear to me how this is Japan's doing. They are making a loan of Japanese owned funds to Ukraine. It seems like Ukraine is planning to use funds from frozen Russian assets to pay back Japan. Unless Japan specified that they must be paid back with frozen Russian assets, which the article does not mention, it seems silly to blame Japan for this.