Those attending will include energy, infrastructure, industrial, and finance business executives and government officials from multiple Indo-Pacific countries.
Tokyo is set to host the inaugural Indo-Pacific Energy Security Ministerial and Business Forum as part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s energy strategy later this year, the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo announced on Feb. 22.
Between March 14 and 15, the forum will feature U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum and U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright—who serve as the National Energy Dominance Council’s chairman and vice-chairman, respectively—as well as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lee Zeldin.
The trio will meet with almost a dozen Indo-Pacific countries for energy security talks, the announcement said. [delete]
Those attending will include energy, infrastructure, industrial, and finance business executives and government officials from multiple Indo-Pacific countries.
In October 2025, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington expected Tokyo to cut off all imports of Russian energy, following discussions with Japanese Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato during the annual International Monetary Fund meeting.
He said they discussed plans for Japan to make strategic investments in the United States through the two nations’ trade and investment agreement.
“Minister Kato and I also discussed important issues pertaining to the U.S.-Japan economic relationship and the Administration’s expectation that Japan stop importing Russian energy,” Bessent wrote on social media.
Kato signaled that Japan had flexibility but did not commit to ceasing imports.
“Japan will do what it can based on the basic principle of coordinating with G7 countries to achieve peace in Ukraine in a fair manner,” Kato said at the time.
Later that month, Japan signaled that it would be difficult to ban all imports of Russian liquefied natural gas.
Japan imported 600,000 barrels of Sakhalin Blend crude oil from Russia in June, the first time since early 2023.
That export-grade mixture of crude oil and gas condensate—a byproduct of liquefied natural gas production—was sanctioned by the United States and the European Union after Russia invaded Ukraine.
However, the U.S. Treasury Department granted Japan a waiver and allowed it to import crude oil to facilitate a stable national gas supply for Tokyo.
In early October 2025, the Group of Seven (G7) intensified economic pressure on Moscow by reinforcing sanctions and pressuring nations that continue to bypass existing trade restrictions and import Russian oil.
By Jacob Burg
