SOLNECHNOGORSK /Moscow Region/, July 23. /TASS/. Japan is now in crisis mode due to the sanctions it has imposed on Russia, and the economic situation in the country is a veritable "horror show," Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at the New Media Festival in Senezh near Moscow.

According to the diplomat, "all the moves that Japan makes, primarily on the international stage, are based solely on what Washington dictates to it." "The Chinese automotive industry has come to Russia because Japan imposed sanctions, which we responded to appropriately. The crisis Japan is currently experiencing is a horror show, but they have done it to themselves," Zakharova pointed out.

She also noted that Japan will definitely no longer be able to return to the Russian market in the same volumes as before, after everything that the country's authorities have done and continue to do. "After World War II, they could not pursue an independent foreign policy focused on national interests," the spokeswoman stressed.

Zakharova also believes that Japan has no grounds to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council. "Does Japan have an independent, sovereign foreign policy that allows it to claim a permanent seat in the UN Security Council with veto power and the entire range of corresponding powers? Of course not. Japan does not have a sovereign foreign policy," the diplomat concluded.