Japanese embassy officials in Moscow met Monday with a Hokkaido Shimbun journalist detained in Russia on espionage charges and confirmed that he was in good health, the government said.

“The Japanese government intends to do its utmost to protect the journalist,” Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Tuesday. “This includes strongly urging the Russian government to ensure his immediate release, provide humanitarian consideration, and guarantee his fair and impartial treatment.”

The journalist, identified by Russian authorities as Yuki Imai, had been based at the Hokkaido Shimbun’s bureau in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk before being detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service and transferred to Moscow, where he is to remain in custody until Dec. 12.

Russian authorities accused Imai of collecting defense-related information shortly before he was due to leave the country. Japan has strongly denied the allegations.

The detention comes amid growing tensions between Russia and Japan.…