Crimea in 2014, Four Oblasts in 2022: Japan Recognizes Neither “Annexation”

A Foreign Minister’s Statement the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued on March 19, 2024, opens as follows: “In the areas of Ukraine that Russia has illegally ‘annexed’ (Luhansk Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, Kherson Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the City of Sevastopol), a Russian ‘presidential election’ was held.”

Both “annexed” and “presidential election” are placed in quotation marks. The statement continues: the “annexation” of these areas into Russia’s own territory is “a clear violation of international law that infringes on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” is “incompatible with relevant UN General Assembly resolutions,” and “can never be accepted, and Japan strongly condemns it once again.” The statement refers to these areas, which Russia claims as its own territory, as “areas within Ukraine.” This article sets out, separately for 2014 and 2022, when and in which documents the Japanese government’s position has been expressed this way (confirmed as of September 2026).

Place names are given here as Luhansk Oblast (per the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ own spelling, Luhansk Oblast), Donetsk Oblast (per the Ministry’s spelling, Donetsk Oblast), Kherson Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the city of Sevastopol (per the Ministry’s spelling, the Special City of Sevastopol). Inside quotations, the Ministry’s own spellings are kept as they appear.

March 2014: Crimea

The Foreign Minister’s Statement on Crimea was issued on March 1, 2014. This statement said Japan was “watching the developments in the Crimean Peninsula with concern” and called on all parties to respect the rule of law and territorial integrity. The following day’s statement, on March 2, expressed “serious concern and apprehension” over the decision the Federation Council of Russia had made on March 1 concerning the authorization to use Russian Federation forces in Ukraine.

The statement of March 18 went further.

The referendum in Ukraine’s Autonomous Republic of Crimea violates Ukraine’s Constitution, has no legal effect, and Japan does not recognize its result.

Foreign Minister’s Statement, “On Measures Against Russia Following the Result of the Referendum in Crimea” (March 18, 2014)

The same statement said that Russia’s recognition of the “independence” of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea infringed on Ukraine’s unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity, and that Japan “can never overlook attempts to change the status quo backed by force.” It went on to announce that Japan would suspend consultations with Russia on visa facilitation, and freeze the start of negotiations toward concluding three international agreements — a new investment agreement, a space agreement, and an agreement on the prevention of dangerous military activities. It called on Russia to withdraw its recognition of Crimea’s independence and “refrain from taking any step toward the annexation of Crimea.”

On March 24, a G7 leaders’ meeting was held in The Hague, the Netherlands. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ summary, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stressed at this meeting that “change of the status quo backed by force” must not be permitted, and that this was not a problem confined to one region, Ukraine, but a matter of vital importance for the international community as a whole, including Asia.

UN General Assembly Resolution 68/262

On March 27, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 68/262, “Territorial integrity of Ukraine.” The resolution states that the referendum held on March 16 in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol “has no validity” and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of either (paragraph 5), and calls on all states and international organizations not to recognize any change in that status based on the referendum, and to refrain from actions that might be interpreted as recognizing it (paragraph 6).

According to the record of that day’s General Assembly meeting (A/68/PV.80), Japan’s representative (recorded as Mr. Yoshikawa) said Japan fully agreed with the draft resolution and had joined as a co-sponsor, and stated in his remarks that Russia’s recognition of Crimea’s independence and its “illegal attempt to annex Crimea” were violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The vote was recorded: 100 in favor, 11 against, 58 abstentions. Japan voted in favor.

The Foreign Minister’s Statement of April 29 expressed serious concern over the continuation of “moves by Russia that violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, beginning with the annexation of Crimea,” and announced that entry visas to Japan would, for the time being, be suspended for 23 individuals judged to have been involved in violating Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

2022: The Four Oblasts

On February 21, 2022, Russia signed presidential decrees recognizing the “independence” of the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and “Luhansk People’s Republic” in eastern Ukraine. The Foreign Minister’s Statement of the following day, February 22, called this “an act that violates Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and is in breach of international law,” saying it “can never be accepted” and “strongly condemning” it. Two days later, on February 24, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.

On September 30, President Putin announced the “incorporation” of the oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The Foreign Minister’s Statement of the same day reads as follows.

The so-called “referendums” in these areas and the so-called “incorporation” of these areas by Russia are acts that violate Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and are in breach of international law. They can never be accepted, and Japan strongly condemns them.

Foreign Minister’s Statement, “On the ‘Incorporation’ of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson by Russia” (September 30, 2022)

The statement goes on to say that such acts in areas that Russia’s aggression has forcibly placed under its temporary control amount to nothing other than an attempt to acquire territory by force, are contrary to international law including the UN Charter, and that “such an attempt is null and void.”

UN General Assembly Resolution ES-11/4

On October 12, the UN General Assembly’s emergency special session adopted resolution ES-11/4, “Territorial integrity of Ukraine: defending the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.” The resolution declares that the illegal so-called referendums held from September 23 to 27 in parts of the four oblasts, and the annexation that followed, have no validity under international law and cannot form the basis for any alteration of the status of these regions (paragraph 3), and calls on all states and international organizations not to recognize this change of status (paragraph 4). It demands that Russia immediately and unconditionally reverse its decisions of February 21 and September 29, 2022, concerning the status of the four oblasts, and withdraw all its military forces from within the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine (paragraph 5).

Japan’s name was among the sponsors of the draft resolution (A/ES-11/L.5) from the outset. According to the record of the meeting on October 10 (A/ES-11/PV.12), after Russia had circulated a proposal to hold a secret ballot on this draft resolution, Albania moved to confirm that the vote would instead be a recorded vote, and this motion was adopted 107 in favor, 13 against, 39 abstentions. Japan voted in favor of this motion.

According to the record of the morning meeting on October 12, the day of the vote (A/ES-11/PV.13), Japan’s representative (recorded as Mr. Ishikane) said that any attempt to annex by force the oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to Russian territory was a clear violation of the UN Charter and international law, and that the General Assembly must not accept it, arguing that the vote was not about “choosing sides” but about showing a collective will to uphold the rule of law. The vote on October 12 was 143 in favor, 5 against, 35 abstentions. Japan voted in favor (A/ES-11/PV.14).

Statements Have Continued After Each “Annexation”

The Japanese government’s statements did not stop in 2022. The joint statement issued by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Zelensky in Kyiv on March 21, 2023, stresses in Point 3 that the two leaders remain “fully committed to the policy of non-recognition of Russia’s illegal attempts to annex Ukrainian territory.”

Every time Russia has held an election in these areas, a Foreign Minister’s Statement has followed. The statement of September 9, 2023, said that the holding of “local council elections,” etc., in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia oblasts and the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, based on the illegal “annexation,” “can never be accepted.” The statement of March 19, 2024, as quoted at the start of this article, takes the same position on Russia’s “presidential election.” This statement adds the city of Sevastopol to the list of areas, and, referring back to the previous year, notes the continuity by saying “following the so-called ‘local council elections,’ etc., held by Russia last September.”

How the Wording Has Shifted

Placing the statements side by side shows how the choice of words has changed. The statement of March 18, 2014, called on Russia to “refrain from taking any step toward the annexation of Crimea,” and the statement of April 29 uses the phrase “annexation of Crimea” without quotation marks. In the statement of September 30, 2022, the names of Russia’s acts — the so-called “referendums,” the so-called “incorporation” — are placed in quotation marks. The statements of 2023 and 2024 use the form “illegally ‘annexed’.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs does not explain, within the statements themselves, the reasons for these choices of wording. What is clear is the substance: not recognizing the result of the referendum (2014); the so-called “incorporation” being null and void (2022); full commitment to a policy of non-recognition of the illegal attempt at annexation (the 2023 joint statement). And in both of the UN General Assembly’s two resolutions, Japan has been listed among the sponsors and has voted in favor.

On the relationship between Russia’s invasion and the government of Ukraine, see A Timeline of Ukraine’s Independence and Russia’s Invasion, 1991-2026; on Ukraine’s oblasts and the administrative divisions beneath them, see Ukraine, Divided into 24 Oblasts, 136 Raions and 1,469 Hromadas.