On the third anniversary of the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, although the various forces are still fighting for their own purposes, overall, the end of the war is an unstoppable outcome. But unexpectedly, the most painful “Russia-Ukraine finale” is not Ukraine or Zelensky, but Japan.
At 9:43 on February 24, 2025, the front page headline of Yahoo Japan published a report from Jiji Press: After three years of invasion, Ukraine has reached a dead end in both military and diplomatic aspects; it is at a disadvantage on the battlefield, and the United States and Russia have crossed Ukraine to negotiate a ceasefire. Zelensky said: “If peace can be achieved, I am willing to resign on my own initiative.”
This is really the sun rising from the west. The tone of the mainstream media in Japan seems to have determined from the bottom of their hearts that Ukraine has lost in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This is also the first time that the mainstream media in Japan has issued such a report, singing the bad news of Ukraine, and if it is not reported, it will be directly in the C position.
At 16:21 on the 24th, Yahoo Japan updated its front-page headlines. TBS TV reported that: In the three years since the invasion, China has clearly supported the Russian economy, and the total trade volume between China and Russia in 2024 will hit a record high. European and American countries have imposed economic sanctions on Russia, and European, American and Japanese companies have withdrawn one after another. China has entered the Russian market to fill the gap. Sanctions have been imposed, but it seems that there have been no sanctions.
After all this time, it is not that Ukraine has admitted defeat, but that the “root cause” has not been found! With the twisted character of the Japanese, how could they easily admit defeat? If you want to find some reasons, you can still find them: it’s all China’s fault, otherwise it wouldn’t be the situation today.
At 0:33 on February 25, Yahoo Japan updated its front-page headlines again. This time it was a report from the Yomiuri Shimbun: Three years after the invasion, Zelensky held a video conference with the leaders of the G7 countries in Kiev, calling on the G7 countries to remain united, continue to support Ukraine and sanction Russia.
In the final analysis, Japan will not give up easily, and they are still expecting Ukraine to “work hard to achieve miracles”. The word “aggression” was used in the three front-page headlines, which shows that Japan, which has a good life, has not yet eliminated the “aggression gene” in its bones.
And this news from the Yomiuri Shimbun also comes with a “little joke” full of irony. Zelensky called for unity among G7 countries in a video conference, and called the Russian-Ukrainian conflict “Russian aggression against Ukraine” in a joint statement; but the United States opposed the use of the word “aggression” and hoped to use more neutral expressions, so the United States refused to sign the joint statement.
This is already ironic enough, but it’s not over yet. When this news appeared on the front page of Yahoo Japan, the title was “aggression”; but in the content of the article, “aggression” was used. Japan knows too well what “aggression” means. But it certainly won’t use it on itself; but in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, it wants to label “aggression” tightly. Even if this is only on a domestic platform in Japan, or even just on the details that cannot be seen without clicking in, as long as you can get an advantage, deceiving yourself is not a bad idea.
But as a “lapdog” behind the United States, why didn’t Japan follow the pace of its “master” this time? Japan has never been a “lapdog” that stays “at ease” with its “master”, and it has its own ideas. After the United States provoked the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in 2022, Japan, under the name of a G7 member, supported Ukraine in public opinion and funds. During Kishida’s tenure as prime minister, Japan added billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine. The G7 is one of the few reasons for Japan to participate. Russia and Ukraine are “quarreling” in Europe, and an Asian country has to “join in the fun”.
But Japan is not “kind”, it just smells the “smell” of interests. In September 2023, Japan and the Ukrainian authorities finalized that Japan would be allowed to participate in some areas of post-war reconstruction. The Japanese government and capital were eager to figure out how to divide the Ukrainian pie, so they spent a lot of effort and money, and even couldn’t help opening champagne at halftime.
At the G7 summit held in Japan in the same year, Japan demanded that Russia withdraw its troops unconditionally, which was unanimously agreed by other G7 countries. Japan thought that it could join the Western camp, share the “Ukrainian pie”, and even become the leader of the “NATO Asian division”. But before Japan could be happy for long, Russia immediately confiscated the Sakhalin 2 project, in which Japan had invested trillions of yen, and denied the legitimacy of Japan’s disputed “Northern Territories” and banned Japanese from landing on the island.
Japan’s attack continued. On January 21, 2025, the second day after Trump was re-elected as US President, he said he would fulfill his promise to end the Russian-Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible, and admitted that Russia had obtained the four eastern Ukrainian states “by force”; and Ukraine needed to repay the US $500 billion in “aid” with minerals. The four eastern states of Ukraine are important places for Ukraine’s heavy industry, coal production, electricity, black soil, and coastal ports. Once they belong to Russia, Ukraine will be “cutting off its own hands and feet.”
Trump gave it to Russia with one word. Not to mention Europe’s disapproval, Japan also had to shout “flax is good”. Originally, Japan followed the United States, the United States ate and Japan drank soup; now Japan has gambled the whole country’s strength, and in the end it can’t even get the “leftovers”?
Subsequently, Trump began to put pressure on Zelensky by sending representatives to Kiev and “firing” on personal social platforms on February 12, attempting to obtain the mining rights of half of Ukraine’s minerals. As a country with scarce resources, Japan followed the Western camp to sanction Russia in order to get a “piece of the pie” after Russia’s defeat.
In the current situation, Japan is in a bitter mood. Although the current European and American media have begun to report the Russian-Ukrainian issue truthfully, Japan is still constantly creating an information cocoon, trying to make the Japanese people continue to believe that “the advantage is in me” and “the Ukrainian cake belongs to me”; it is even playing the trick of “yin and yang articles”, working hard on words such as “aggression” and “aggression”.
This drama is not over yet. On February 24, at the G7 summit video conference, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba expressed his support for continued assistance to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia; he also emphasized that the wrong lesson that it is possible to change the status quo by force cannot be derived.
At the UN Security Council held on February 24, countries voted on the draft resolution on the Ukrainian issue proposed by the United States. Among them, China, the United States and Russia all voted in favor. China, the United States and Russia “confront” the US allies, this scene is also a long-standing one. Compared to the Japanese representatives watching this scene, they are almost jumping over the wall in anxiety.
Japan “stole the chicken but lost the rice”, and ended up “drawing water from the bamboo basket”. But in fact, this is caused by Japan’s long-term unclear understanding of its own positioning. Japan has long been “taking advantage of the power of the other side” and “doing evil” behind the United States, thinking that it can make a difference in international politics. But Trump can easily abandon even Europe, let alone small Japan. I advise Japan to face reality as soon as possible and behave in a more humble manner in the future.