During the meeting, the deputy prime minister reaffirmed Russia's willingness to provide any necessary assistance in any matter that Japan may consider important. "We believe that there are good opportunities here," he said.

He added that top priority will obviously be given to any plan to support the Japanese government's earthquake relief efforts.

The deputy prime minister said he believes that shipping liquefied natural gas to Japan would be very timely in this respect. "Considering the volume of LNG that Gazprom has available, we could reroute part of it to Japan, if requested," Sechin said. "We could replace shiploads of contracted LNG with pipeline gas, after our European partners agree to the plan," he continued.

Sechin also added that this crisis is a test for friendship and compassion and that Russia certainly must support Japan in this emergency by offering any help that might be needed.

According to Sechin, the earthquake and the nuclear emergency in Japan are bound to disrupt the balance of Japan's energy system. "We are ready to cooperate," he said, adding that he has already sent proposals to his Japanese counterpart. His proposals include greater oil and gas supplies, additional coal supplies, and other kinds of oil and energy cooperation.