00:00Japanese Prime Minister Sanai Takaichi has denied allegations that Japan is conducting espionage in Russia.
00:07She was responding to the detention of a Japanese journalist by Moscow on the suspicion of spying.
00:16Russia's FSB security agency said the journalist Yuki Imai works for the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper
00:24and was detained in the far eastern Sakhalin region on Tuesday.
00:28Takaichi said Japan does not yet know the details of the allegations,
00:32but will communicate its position to Moscow.
00:35The case adds to long-running tensions between the two countries,
00:38which have yet to sign a formal peace treaty following World War II.
00:43Relations have deteriorated further since Japan joined Western sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine,
00:50although Japan continues to maintain business ties through the purchase of Russian liquefied natural gas.
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