MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shows more enthusiasm about contacts with Russia compared to his predecessors, Chairman of the New Party Big Earth Muneo Suzuki who is actively involved in dialogue with Russia told TASS.
"Abe’s stance is to make sure that a solution after the peace treaty is mutually beneficial so that both Russia and Japan stand to gain. None of the Russian leaders understood Japan better and showed more interest in our country than Putin. I believe that, compared to his predecessors, Abe is more interested in contacts with Russia and is showing greatest enthusiasm. The peace treaty issue cannot be resolved otherwise than under the leadership of Putin and Abe," he said.
According to Suzuki, the timeframe for signing a peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo "is limited to some extent." "Abe’s term of office expires in two and a half years, while Putin’s presidential tenure will end in five years. Of course, there is an option that procedures in Japan will be revised, and Abe will be elected for a fourth term, but, even if that is not the case, he is sure to remain a determining figure," the politician went on to say. "I view Abe’s and Putin’s leadership in a broad sense and believe they are the only ones who will be able to solve that problem."
According to Suzuki, a situation when there is no peace treaty between the two great powers is unnatural.
Putin and Abe agreed at their meeting in Singapore on November 14, 2018, to intensify Russian-Japanese talks on concluding a peace treaty based on the Joint Declaration signed on October 19, 1956. Later in December, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, the two leaders announced establishing a new peace treaty negotiation mechanism. The two countries’ top diplomats Sergey Lavrov and Taro Kono were tasked were tasked with overseeing its work.