Russian ambassador to Japan to leave post, possibly in late Nov.
Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin is expected to leave his post, possibly late next month, and it is not yet known who will succeed him, a Russian government source said Friday.
His departure comes amid strained bilateral ties over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began in February, which has sparked condemnation and triggered international sanctions against Moscow.
Galuzin, 62, who assumed the ambassadorship in March 2018, is renowned for his excellent Japanese skills even among Russian diplomats who are experts on Japan, the source said.
His current stint is his fourth time serving in Japan, including during the Soviet Union days.
Galuzin is also known to adhere closely to Moscow’s position on issues concerning its war on Ukraine and the Russian-held, Japan-claimed islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.
He criticized Japan, in an interview in May, for its sanctions against his country over the invasion as continued unfriendly actions that made impossible peace treaty negotiations concerning the islands, which Moscow seized in 1945 following Japan’s surrender in World War II.
He was summoned to Japan’s Foreign Ministry in October over its decision to order a Sapporo-based Russian diplomat to leave in retaliation for Moscow’s expulsion of a Japanese consul the previous month.
Galuzin said then that the move would only worsen bilateral ties further.
Still, Galuzin has continued to make diplomatic gestures including laying flowers in August at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima two days ahead of the traditional annual ceremony, to which he was not invited.
Galuzin joined Russia’s Foreign Ministry in 1983, and served as minister-counsellor to the Russian Embassy in Japan from 2001 to 2008.
He was also Russia’s ambassador to Indonesia from 2012 to 2017, before his appointment to Japan by President Vladimir Putin in January 2018.