PNN – Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s condition for talks between Moscow and Tokyo is “unfair and unacceptable”.
According to Pakistan News Network’s report from Tass, Yoshimasa Hayashi in an interview with the media in response to Putin’s words added: We consider Russia’s position, which tries to transfer the responsibility to Japan, to be unfair and completely unacceptable.
He emphasized that the position of the Japanese government regarding the solution to the problem of the northern territories remains unchanged.
On Wednesday, Putin said in a meeting with the heads of the world’s news agencies in St. Petersburg that the dialogue between Russia and Japan will be possible after Tokyo changes its stance on Ukraine.
He added: “Now there are no conditions to continue the dialogue between Russia and Japan regarding the peace treaty, although we do not refuse to resume it, but it is possible only if the necessary conditions are created by the Japanese side.”
Pointing to Japan’s involvement in the Ukraine crisis, Putin emphasized that, unlike Japan, the Russian side has not done anything to complicate the bilateral dialogue.
Since the middle of the 20th century, Moscow and Tokyo have been negotiating a peace agreement. The two countries have a dispute over the sovereignty of the Kuril Islands. These islands are located between North Hokkaido and the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Sea of ​​Akhtas in the Pacific Ocean. These islands are called South Kuril Islands in Russia and Northern Territories in Japan.
After the end of the World War, Japan claims the ownership of Itorup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small uninhabited islands. On the other hand, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia has repeatedly emphasized that there is no doubt about Russia’s sovereignty over these territories, which has an appropriate international legal framework.
After Tokyo imposed anti-Russian sanctions regarding the situation in Ukraine, Russia stopped its negotiations with Japan on the issue of a peace treaty.
Moscow also pulled out of talks with Tokyo to establish joint economic activities in the South Kuril Islands and blocked Japan from renewing its status as a partner of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization in sectoral talks.