A news program shows footage of the detention of a Japanese journalist accused of espionage, in Moscow on Oct. 13. | AFP-JIJI

It is almost impossible to overestimate the cynicism and opportunism of the government of Russia.

President Vladimir Putin will do anything he can to maximize his leverage in international negotiations. That is the lens through which the world should interpret the arrest of a Japanese journalist on charges of espionage. This is hostage taking to gain leverage over Japan. It should be condemned without qualification and the journalist must be released immediately.

Last month, Russian security services announced the arrest of Yuki Imai, a journalist at the Hokkaido Shimbun’s bureau in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on Sakhalin Island in eastern Russia on charges of espionage.…