MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Moscow has received mediation requests neither from Japan nor from North Korea, Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Galuzin said in an interview with TASS.
According to him, bilateral relations between Japan and North Korea "should be improved through dialogue between Tokyo and Pyongyang."
"Russia and Japan have maintained close contacts concerning the Korean Peninsula issue," Galuzin went on to say. "Japan and North Korea also have channels for communication though they are not very sustainable," he added.
The six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula denuclearization, involving the two Korean states, Japan, China, Russia and the United States, began in 2003 but were suspended in 2008 at Pyongyang’s initiative as the negotiations had not produced any real results. A road map to resolve the issue, developed by Russia and China, calls for resuming the six-party talks.
Japan remains the only party to the talks that has not yet established direct contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
Peace treaty issue
Russia and Japan need to reach a compromise on the peace treaty issue, which would be welcome by the two countries’ people and be in line in the strategic interests of Moscow and Tokyo,Galuzin also said.
"Moscow believes that it is important to continue dialogue with Tokyo on the peace treaty issue," he said. "We need to find a mutually acceptable solution, it may be said - a compromise, which would be welcome by the two countries’ people and will also be fully in line with the strategic interests of Russia and Japan," the ambassador added.
Galuzin also said that such a solution was easier to find "in an atmosphere of sustainable and comprehensive development of Russian-Japanese relations." "As dialogue on a peace treaty goes on, we are focusing on paving the way for joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands and ensuring visa-free travel between the Island of Sakhalin and Hokkaido," he went on to say. "It will help us create conditions for finding mutually acceptable solutions to issues in the future," Galuzin noted.
The Russian ambassador pointed out that there was no need to put time limits for making a peace treaty. "The reason is that we may find it embarrassing in case we miss the time limit," he said.
South Kuril Islands issue
Since the mid-20th century, Russia and Japan have been holding consultations in order to clinch a peace treaty as a follow-up to World War II. The Kuril Islands issue remains the sticking point since after WWII the islands were handed over to the Soviet Union while Japan laid claims to the four southern islands. In 1956, the two countries signed a common declaration on ending the state of war and restoring diplomatic and all other relations, however, a peace treaty has still not been reached. Moscow has stated many times that Russia’s sovereignty over the islands cannot be called into question.
The parties made another attempt to resume talks on the peace treaty issue during Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to Moscow in April 2013. Since then, Moscow and Tokyo have been holding consultations, which have resulted in an agreement to conduct joint economic activities on the South Kuril Islands.
Iranian oil
If Japan stops to buy Iranian oil it will mean the country has bended to the United States’ policy, Galuzin said.
According to the Russian diplomat, reports about Japan’s possible scaling down imports of Iranian oil have been circulated for quite a time. "But Russia is not a country to profiteer from the problems of its friends, which include Iran," he said. "We are committed to the principle of market economy and trade in oil under our national strategy and, naturally, in cooperation with other oil producing nations."
"We think the United States’ sanctions against Iran that were passed in bypassing of the United Nations Security Council are inadmissible," Galuzin stressed. "I will not approve of the actions of any country’s businesses that this or that way could be interpreted as bending or yielding to the US’ sanctions policy."
Earlier, Japan’s Nikkei business daily said that Japanese oil companies were about to completely stop oil imports from Iran.