Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi on Thursday urged Russia to withdraw its forces from Ukraine and encouraged other countries to "stand up" against violations of the U.N. Charter such as the acquisition of territory by force.
The U.N. Security Council meeting, chaired by Hayashi as Japan holds the rotating monthly presidency for January, focused on the importance of the rule of law, an issue also linked to China amid its growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region.
Hayashi said that an order by the International Court of Justice in March for Russia to withdraw all its troops from Ukraine "must be implemented immediately," adding that the principle of the rule of law "never allows any country to rewrite borders by force or through the flexing of muscles."