MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Moscow is terminating peace treaty talks with Tokyo in the light of Japan’s newly-introduced unilateral restrictions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
"In the light of the outspokenly unfriendly nature of Japan’s unilateral restrictions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine the following measures are to be taken. In the current situation the Russian side has no intention of continuing peace treaty talks with Japan, for it is impossible to discuss the signing of a fundamental treaty in bilateral relations with a country that takes an outspokenly unfriendly stance and tries to cause harm to the interests of our country," the Foreign Ministry said.
It stated that a decision had been made to terminate visa-free trips by Japanese citizens on the basis of agreements on visa-free exchanges between Russia’s South Kuril Islands and Japan of 1991 and the 1999 agreement on simple travel rules for those Japanese who would like to visit their former places of residence on the islands. Russia is quitting the dialogue with Japan on joint economic activity on the South Kuril Islands and blocks the prolongation of Japan’s status of a sectoral dialogue partner of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
"All responsibility for harm to bilateral relations and to the interests of Japan itself rests upon Tokyo, which has consciously made its choice in favor of an anti-Russian policy instead of developing mutually beneficial cooperation and neighborliness," the Foreign Ministry said.
Japan’s sanctions against Russia
Japan earlier introduced several packages of sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine. A total of 300 product titles have been prohibited from export to Russia, including semiconductors, equipment for shipping and aviation safety, means of communication, military products, including weapons, software and oil refining equipment. Such restrictions apply to 49 companies and organizations in Russia, including Rosoboronexport, Rostech, the federal security service FSB and foreign intelligence service SVR.
Japan has frozen the assets of several banks: Otkrytie, Novikombank, Sovcombank, VTB, Rossiya Bank, Promsvyazbank and VEB.RF. Also, personal restrictions were imposed on the Russian leadership, including President Vladimir Putin and a number of Russian businessmen.