MOSCOW — Japan has resumed a program allowing university students to undertake short-term studies in Russia for the first time in seven years, the Foreign Ministry said.
According to the ministry, a total of 15 Japanese university students studying Russian and other subjects stayed in St Petersburg, Russia’s second-largest city, from Aug. 12 to Aug. 20, participating in language training and exchange activities with local counterparts.
The program is organized by the Japan-Russia Youth Exchange Center, an organization jointly funded by the Japanese and Russian governments.
The exchanges had been suspended in 2020 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and did not resume following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, after which Japan imposed economic sanctions on Moscow.
The resumption of the program has drawn criticism. In response, the ministry said Japan’s sanctions policy toward Russia remains unchanged, but stressed the importance of people-to-people exchanges from a medium- to long-term perspective.
The ministry added that a decision on whether to continue the program going forward will be based on the outcome of this year’s exchange.