Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Japan’s foreign minister HAYASHI Yoshimasa on Wednesday, confirmed his country’s strong partnership with Kuwait in telephone talks with Sheikh Dr. Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohamed Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti foreign minister.

“Kuwait is a strong partner of Japan, and the two countries are friends who had historically helped each other during the hardships of the Gulf War and the Great East Japan Earthquake,” minister Hayashi said in the talks that lasted for 20 minutes, the foreign ministry in Tokyo said.

Hayashi further stated that he would like to strengthen the close bilateral relationship between Japan and Kuwait in cooperation with Minister Ahmad.

In response, Minister Ahmad said that Japan and Kuwait had sustained a friendly relationship over the years, such as through cooperating in response to the Gulf War, and stated that he would like that to continue.

On the Ukrainian issue, the position of both countries was not the same, with Hayashi condemning Russia while his Kuwaiti counterpart, Minister Ahmad, condemned “acts that breach international law and the Charter of the United Nations,” without mentioning Russia, according to the ministry statement.

The two ministers exchanged views on the soaring crude oil prices in the wake of the situation in Ukraine. Minister Hayashi expressed his gratitude for Kuwait’s stable supply of crude oil to Japan and expressed his hopes for Kuwait to continue to play a leading role in stabilizing the international oil market.

In response, Minister Ahmad stated that Kuwait holds responsibility for stabilizing the international oil market as a member of OPEC and OPEC Plus and that Kuwait is willing to respond appropriately to the situation.

Japan imported from Kuwait 6.68 million barrels or 8.5% of its total crude imports in February 2022. Japanese companies are expected to increase their imports from Kuwait and other sources in the Middle East.