Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Japan has proven quite lucrative. The two countries have closed 23 deals on offshore oil and LNG that are worth billions of dollars.
Russia and Japan deepened ties between the neighboring countries over the weekend as Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Japan.
The talks were set in the hopes of restarting a dialogue over four islands that each country has claimed a right to since the end of World War II, and included a number of economic deals, 23 of which were centered on energy. [...]
The deals included Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft and a consortium of Japanese companies comprising Marubeni Corporation, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and INPEX Corp. signing a Heads of Agreement for joint exploration, development and production offshore Russia, according to Rosneft.
Russia has gradually been shifting its focus east following the implementation of sanctions against the country by the West over its annexation of Crimea. Prior to this weekend’s deals, the focus had been on China and India, with ties between Russia and Japan complicated by the territorial dispute over the islands, which Russia refers to as the Kuril Islands, and Japan calls the Northern Territories.
Ever since the European Union decided to hitch its wagon to the falling star of US transatlantic hegemony and impose self-destructive economic sanctions on Russia, Moscow has increasingly turned East, toward Asia, for trade and investment.
The new deals signed with Japan could yield billions for companies from both countries in the Kuril Islands, which Russia annexed following World War II, but which are still claimed by the Japanese.
Not only is the United States poised to lose its influence in Europe if continues pressing the EU to maintain sanctions, but it may even lose Asian allies as countries like Japan and the Philippines realize there economic interests lie in Asia and not in North America.
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