Kremlin to negotiate peace treaty with Japan impossible
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Tokyo's sanctions on Moscow have affected diplomacy between the two countries.
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Kremlin and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow (AFP)
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that it is impossible to negotiate a peace treaty between Russia and Japan under the current circumstances.
Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida stated that Tokyo remains steadfast in a peace treaty with Moscow. However, he noted that relations between Japan and Russia are difficult due to the situation in Ukraine.
"Of course, conducting negotiations on a peace treaty under such conditions seems impossible," Peskov told reporters.
Last March, the Russian Foreign Ministry revealed that Moscow is refusing to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty with Tokyo's implementation of sanctions against Russia in the background.
Russia is blocking the extension of the Japanese status as a dialogue partner in the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
“All responsibility for the damage to bilateral cooperation and the interests of Japan itself lies with Tokyo, which deliberately made a choice in favor of an anti-Russian course instead of developing mutually beneficial cooperation and good neighborliness,” the ministry said.
"Given the obvious unfriendly nature of the unilateral restrictions imposed by Japan against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine, the following measures are being taken. The Russian side is withdrawing from the dialogue with Japan on establishing joint economic activities in the southern Kuril islands," the ministry said.
Russia will also ban Japanese citizens from visiting the Kuril islands without a visa.
After WWII, Russia and Japan have not signed a peace treaty and the territorial disputes over the Kuril Islands. With both sides still 'at war', the sovereign fate of the islands is still unclear.
While Japan protests the visit of Russian officials to the islands, Russia fears the placement of US bases and missiles on the islands if they were to be handed to Tokyo.
