The Russian Foreign Ministry considered it impossible to conclude a peace treaty with Japan

A dialogue between Moscow and Tokyo on a peace treaty is impossible, since Japan does not abandon its anti-Russian course, declared Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko in an interview with TASS.

“It is quite obvious that it is impossible to discuss the signing of such a document with a state that takes openly unfriendly positions and allows itself direct threats against our country,” he said.

The Japanese authorities bogged down in the West’s anti-Russian campaign after the start of a special operation in Ukraine, despite the fact that Moscow and Tokyo were negotiating a comprehensive treaty on peace, friendship and good neighborliness, Rudenko said. Now there are no signs of Japan’s withdrawal from the anti-Russian course, the diplomat stressed.

On March 21, 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it was ending negotiations with the Japanese authorities on concluding a peace treaty due to unilateral sanctions that Tokyo had imposed in connection with a special operation in Ukraine. In addition, Moscow canceled visa-free travel for the Japanese to the Kuril Islands and imposed a number of other restrictions on Tokyo.

In early December, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida declared about the absence of conditions for discussing a peace treaty with Russia and the “extremely difficult” state of affairs in Japanese-Russian relations. At the same time, the Japanese prime minister emphasized that Tokyo would continue its course towards “solving the territorial issue” and concluding a peace agreement with Moscow.

Russia and Japan did not conclude a peace treaty following World War II because of the protracted dispute over the South Kuriles. The state of war between the two countries was officially ended in 1956, after which the USSR and Japan resumed diplomatic relations in accordance with the Moscow Declaration. According to the Japanese position, Russia must hand over to Japan the four southern islands of the Kuril chain. Moscow, on the other hand, recognizes the USSR declaration of 1956, which refers to the possibility of transferring the two islands after the conclusion of a peace treaty.