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Russia-Japan dispute over Kuril Islands

Tokyo’s policy makes peace treaty talks impossible, Russian diplomat says

There is no way of discussing the signing of a basic document for bilateral relations with a country that has taken an openly unfriendly position, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova noted

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Tokyo’s unfriendly policy has made peace treaty talks between Russia and Japan impossible, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Sputnik radio station on Wednesday.

"We stated that we had no plans to continue peace treaty talks with Japan. It’s obvious because there is no way of discussing the signing of a basic document for bilateral relations with a country that has taken an openly unfriendly position," she pointed out.

According to Zakharova, Tokyo seeks to cause selective damage to Russia’s interests. "Given the current situation and the Japanese leadership’s approach, it is impossible to talk about developing such documents," the Russian diplomat stressed.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday that Moscow was terminating peace treaty talks with Tokyo due to the unilateral restrictions that Japan had imposed on Russia over the situation in Ukraine. A decision was also made to end visa-free travel to Russia’s southern Kuril Islands for Japanese citizens. Besides, Russian withdrew from dialogue with Japan on joint economic activities on the southern Kuril Islands and blocked the extension of Japan’s status as a sectoral dialogue partner of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.

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Foreign policy Russian Foreign Ministry Japan Dispute over Kuril Islands Maria Zakharova

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