Japan demands access to journalist detained in Russia as spy row persists

What happened: A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official, Kimitake Nakamura, visited Moscow and met Russian Foreign Ministry official Lyudmila Georgievna Vorobyova to discuss the detention of a Hokkaido Shimbun journalist held on spying allegations. Why it matters: Japan conveyed its position calling for consular access to the detained Japanese national as soon as possible and for the individual's immediate release, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara.

A senior Japanese Foreign Ministry official, Kimitake Nakamura, visited Moscow and met Russian Foreign Ministry official Lyudmila Georgievna Vorobyova to discuss the detention of a Hokkaido Shimbun journalist held on spying allegations.

Japan conveyed its position calling for consular access to the detained Japanese national as soon as possible and for the individual's immediate release, according to Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara.