Japan has denied claims that it rejected a European Union request to join a G7 initiative to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine, calling the report “completely false,” Vice Finance Minister for International Affairs Atsushi Mimura said on December 9.

Mimura oversees Japan’s currency policy and international economic coordination. He told reporters that Tokyo remained engaged in efforts to support Ukraine and had made no such refusal.

“It’s completely false,” Mimura said, referring to a Politico report that Japan had poured cold water on a proposal by Brussels during a meeting of G7 finance ministers.

“Minister Katayama never made such a comment (in the G7 meeting). She told the meeting that Japan is preparing to take specific steps to support [Ukraine].”

The Politico article had claimed that Japanese Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama opposed the idea of using an estimated $30bn in frozen Russian assets held in Japan to issue a loan to Ukraine, citing legal obstacles. The report also suggested Tokyo had been reluctant to follow the EU’s lead in deploying profits from Russian central bank assets immobilised at Euroclear, the Brussels-based clearing house.

Nevertheless, there has been growing opposition to using Russia’s frozen assets to extend a EU-backed €210bn Reparation Loan to Ukraine, which is facing a macroeconomic collapse if no new funds are found soon. The EU is due to vote on the plan at its next summit on December 18-19.

Mimura dismissed the reports claims that Tokyo had come under US pressure to withhold financial aid for Ukraine, reaffirming Japan’s strategic interest in backing Ukraine.

“Japan has acted for Ukraine from our national interest,” he said, “as Japan could one day face a similar situation in East Asia.”

G7 leaders have not ruled out fully leveraging the estimated $300bn in Russian sovereign assets frozen globally since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The UK and Canada have already expressed readiness to move forward if the EU proceeds with its reparations loan framework.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he expects a decision on the use of frozen Russian assets “within days,” describing the current negotiations as entering a “critical stage.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called the reparations loan mechanism a “financial lifeline,” adding Kyiv’s ability to maintain stability depends on a unified Western commitment to unlocking frozen Russian funds.