TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th September, 2022) Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said on Friday that Motoki Tatsunori, a consul of the Japanese Consulate-General in the Russian city of Vladivostok who was expelled for collecting classified information, left Russia on Wednesday but have yet to arrive in Japan.
"The diplomat left Russia on (September) 28 but has not yet arrived in Japan. Due to the nature of the circumstances, I will refrain from details," Hayashi told a briefing.
The minister said that Tatsunori had not engaged in the activities of which he had been accused, expressed regret over the expulsion of the diplomat, and called the actions of the Russian side unacceptable.
The Japanese side is considering countermeasures to the expulsion of Tatsunori, Hayashi added.
"We are currently considering appropriate measures; however, I am not ready to make them public yet," the foreign minister said.
On Monday, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said it had detained Tatsunori, who was obtaining, for a monetary reward, classified information about Russia's cooperation with an Asia-Pacific regional country, the impact of Western sanctions on the economic situation in the Primorsky region. In an FSB video, the diplomat admitted his guilt in violating Russian law. Moscow expressed a protest to Japan through diplomatic channels, and the consul was declared persona non grata. In response, Tokyo summoned the Russian ambassador, according to media reports.
