Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, visiting Crimea against Tokyo's wishes, held talks Wednesday with leader Sergey Aksyonov in Simferopol, the peninsula's main city, and said Japan should lift its sanctions against Russia.
According to media reports, Hatoyama expressed his view at the talks that Japan should "normalize" relations with Russia by lifting sanctions imposed for Moscow's annexation of the Ukrainian territory — an act Japan does not recognize.
Hatoyama also reportedly said the Japanese government should wake up from its dream-like state and squarely face reality.