Japan considers the statement of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin that the Russian-Japanese dialogue will be unacceptable only after the change in Tokyo’s policy in Ukraine.
This was announced at the press conference by the General Secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan Yoshimas Hayashi.
According to the politician, mutual negotiations between Tokyo and Moscow ceased in February 2022, when “Russia began an attack on Ukraine.”
“Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is an ugly act that shakes the foundations of international order,” said the general secretary of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan, calling “absolutely unacceptable” statements by Putin regarding the resumption of negotiations. Moscow accusations against Tokyo on the non -renewal of negotiations are “unfounded,” he said.
The position of the Japanese government to conclude a peace treaty remains unchanged, Hayashi emphasized.
Possible visit to Kurils
Commenting on the statements of the Russian leader that “he does not see the grounds not to visit the Kurils,” Hayashi said that this visit “contradicts the position of Japan.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, communicating in St. Petersburg at a meeting with the heads of world news agencies, said that the Russian-Japanese dialogue will be possible after the change in the Tokyo position in Ukraine.
“We see Japan’s engagement today in this Ukrainian crisis. Now there are no conditions for continuing the dialogue between Russia and Japan under a peace treaty. We do not refuse to resume it, but only if the necessary conditions are created, and above all with We did nothing in the Japanese side, which complicated the Russian -Japanese dialogue.
The problem of the Kuril Islands
In 1945, at the end of World War II, the Soviet Union annexed the Kuril Islands extending about 1300 kilometers and separating the Pacific Ocean from the Sea of Okhotsk.
After the annexation due to a dispute over the territory that Japan also calls the “northern regions”, the parties cannot achieve the result in negotiations on a peace agreement.