Foreign Minister Hayashi met with Foreign Minister Abdullah in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) he visited over Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, and cooperated in various diplomatic negotiations to protect the foundation of the international order. I confirmed that I would go.
The meeting was held before dawn on the 21st of Japan time, and exchanged opinions on the situation in Ukraine.
In this, Minister Hayashi acknowledged that Russia's military invasion violates Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity and is a serious violation of international law. We have confirmed that we will continue to cooperate in various diplomatic negotiations.
The two Foreign Ministers also fully agreed that Russia should not threaten or use nuclear weapons.
Meanwhile, Minister Hayashi expressed concern about rising oil prices and called for further contributions to stabilizing the international oil market as a major oil-producing country, while Foreign Minister Abdullah's relationship with Japan, a strategic partner. Showed his intention to cooperate, saying that he was unwavering.
After the meeting, Minister Hayashi completed his visits to Turkey and the UAE and was on his way home.
Prior to this, Minister Hayashi emphasized the results to reporters in the field, saying, "It was a part of exchanging opinions on the urgent issue of Ukraine and further strengthening diplomatic efforts for Japan to solve the problem." did.
Negative attitude towards additional crude oil production increase by UAE alone
UAE = United Arab Emirates supplies about 30% of the crude oil imported by Japan, and Japanese companies also produce crude oil locally.
OPEC (OPEC), to which the UAE is a member, and major oil-producing countries such as Russia adjust their production according to crude oil demand under a framework called "OPEC Plus".
OPEC Plus participating countries said that crude oil prices were sluggish and decided to drastically reduce the daily production of 9.7 million barrels, which is 10% of the world's crude oil production. We continue to increase production by a small margin of 400,000 barrels.
As crude oil prices soar against the backdrop of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine, consuming countries are demanding further increases in production from oil-producing countries, but oil-producing countries remain cautious.
OPEC said in a report released yesterday that it would "review the outlook for oil demand if it is still in the process of being evaluated and the widespread impact of geopolitical turmoil becomes apparent." ..
UAE Energy Minister Mazurui has expressed respect for the OPEC Plus framework and is also negative about additional production increases on its own.
Deepening relations with Russia over UAE oil policy
UAE = United Arab Emirates has an alliance with the United States and is known as a "pro-American family in the Middle East", but it is also deepening relations with Russia over oil policy.
The UAE, which participates in "OPEC Plus" in which major oil-producing countries cooperate to adjust crude oil production, is taking a stance of considering Russia, which is a part of OPEC Plus, even though Russia is internationally isolated due to the military invasion of Ukraine. I have shown.
The de facto leader of the UAE, Crown Prince Muhammad of the Emirates of Abu Dhabi, met with President Putin on the phone on the 1st of this month to confirm the cooperation based on OPEC Plus.
Foreign Minister Abdullah, the younger brother of Crown Prince Muhammad, also visited Russia on the 17th of this month to discuss the stability of the energy market with Foreign Minister Sergeĭ Viklov and promote the friendship.
The UAE wants to keep the price of crude oil, which is an important source of income, as high as possible in order to promote efforts to reduce dependence on oil, such as the introduction of renewable energy and the development of industries other than oil.
Therefore, by cooperating with Russia, one of the world's leading oil-producing countries, in the framework of OPEC Plus, it seems that the aim is to maintain its influence on international crude oil prices.