MOSCOW, March 22./TASS/. Russia and Japan will never be able to reach a consensus regarding the Kuril Islands, Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote Tuesday in a Telegram post.
"Russia has refused to continue peace treaty talks with Japan. In the context of the Kuril Islands, this is a historically justified step that is long overdue and fair," he said.
According to Medvedev, it was ‘obvious’ that Russia and Japan would never reach a consensus regarding the dispute. "Both sides knew it before. The negotiations regarding the Kurils have always had a ritual nature," he said.
Medvedev noted that the amended Russian constitution "directly stipulates that the territories of our country are not subject to alienation". "This is a closed issue," he stressed.
Following America’s example, the Japanese wanted to act like ‘proud independent samurais’ and imposed sanctions on Russia, thus indicating with whom they would negotiate the hypothetical text of a peace treaty, Medvedev said. "The talks no longer make sense. And that's fine," the post read.
The politician said it was much more important to address the development of the Kuril Islands. He said that in recent years, Russia had ‘breathed new life into’ the territories, adding that he had visited the islands multiple times, had taken steps to support them, and seen real improvements, including schools, roads and airports. "And, most importantly, the local people see it too. That is how it will be in the future, too!" Medvedev said.
Termination of talks
Russia’s Foreign Ministry had said earlier that Moscow had terminated peace treaty talks with Tokyo in light of the unilateral restrictions imposed by Japan against Russia over Ukraine. It stated that a decision had been made to no longer offer Japanese citizens visa-free travel to the islands, which been permitted following agreements made in 1991 on visa-free travel between Russia’s South Kuril Islands and Japan, as well as the1999 agreement on simplified travel rules for those Japanese who wanted to visit their former places of residence on the islands.
Russia said it was walking away from the dialogue with Japan on joint economic activity on the South Kuril Islands, and blocked the prolongation of Japan’s status as a sectoral dialogue partner of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida deemed Russia’s decision to terminate the talks unacceptable. He said Tokyo was "not able to comment on the prospects of talks" with Moscow.