Khaldon Azhari, Tokyo

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi on Friday called on "all parties involved in Syria, including the Syrian government, to stop military measures and constructively engage in the political process."

"The crisis in Syria is not a problem that can be solved by military means, but a political solution must be pursued. This is the basic position of ​​Japan," Motegi said at a press conference today in Tokyo. He added that Japan is "strongly concerned about the continued intense battles in the Idlib region and the deterioration of humanitarian conditions there."

The foreign minister acknowledged there are various problems such as power shortage in the local Syrian areas and said Japan is planning to increase its aid for that especially in the energy sector. 

Currently, the Japanese embassy in Syria is temporarily closed, "but this is mainly due to the deterioration of the local security situation" Motegi said. Regarding the resumption of operations of the embassy in the Damascus, we are watching closely the situation there in order to decide."

Since 2012, Japan has provided about $2.7 Billion in humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people in Syria and the surrounding countries such as Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey.

Arab News learned that the Japanese government is planning additional assistance to the Syria people with a new packages amounts to $130 Million in the supplementary budget for fiscal year 2019 that ends in 31 March 2020. This will increase total Japanese assistance to Syria to about 2,9 Billion, an official of Japan's foreign ministry told Arab News.