The United States expects Japan to completely halt imports of Russian energy, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Thursday after meeting with Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato.

"Minister Kato and I also discussed important issues pertaining to the U.S.-Japan economic relationship and the Administration's expectation that Japan stop importing Russian energy," Bessent wrote on the social network X.

Japan mainly imports liquefied natural gas and small volumes of crude oil from Russia.

According to Reuters, in the first seven months of 2025, Russian gas accounted for about 9% of Japan’s total imports, while crude oil shipments were minimal—just 0.1% of total imports.

Japan, along with other Group of Seven (G7) countries, agreed to gradually phase out Russian oil in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. However, the country continues to purchase gas from the Sakhalin-2 project, citing national energy security concerns.

  • On October 15, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he had secured a pledge from India to stop importing Russian oil.