Russian Ambassador denies Russia’s occupation of Ukraine

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:25 JST, November 12, 2022

Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin insisted on Friday that Russia’s military operation in Ukraine is not an occupation.

Ahead of stepping down this month, Galuzin held a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, where he stated: “What we are doing in Ukraine is not occupation. The United States occupied Iraq and destroyed the nation [during the Iraq War].”

Galuzin also claimed that “friendly behavior on the part of Japan has deteriorated” since Feb. 24, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine started.

Galuzin became ambassador to Japan in March 2018. The day after the invasion began, he insisted at another FCCJ press conference that Russia had no intention of occupying Ukraine.

But in fact, Russia intruded to the outskirts of Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and in October it unilaterally annexed four eastern and southern provinces.

Ahead of his latest press conference, 42 ambassadors to Japan, representing the United States, European countries and others, issued a jointly signed statement. The ambassadors referred to Galuszin’s remarks on the day after the invasion started, saying that further spreading of lies is never acceptable.