TOKYO, April 3. /TASS/. There are politicians in Japan, albeit only a handful, who fully realize what an erroneous policy the country has been pursuing against Russia, Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolay Nozdrev told TASS in an interview.
When asked about whether there are politicians who could continue the policy course of deceased former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Japan, the Russian diplomat said: "Abe was a very grand political figure. He conducted a policy course that was primarily focused on long-term strategic development tasks for his country as he took into account the entire range of geopolitical factors surrounding Japan." Meanwhile, the government of current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida "acts in quite a different manner," targeting "certain short-term aspects," Nozdrev said.
"There are a few people in the Japanese political establishment who truly see how erroneous the current policy course pursued by Tokyo has been, as they are seeking to maintain a strong and stable relationship with Russia," the Russian ambassador said, also referring to Japanese experts, businessmen and cultural figures.
It is with such Japanese public figures that Russia will continue cooperating proactively, Nozdrev said with confidence. "Even despite the utterly difficult circumstances, when everybody here has to work under enormous pressure from Japan’s anti-Russian leadership, we will be able to make use of various avenues for dialogue" and aim at building stable, good neighborly relations over the longer term, he concluded.
Since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Japan has introduced several packages of anti-Russian sanctions, including on Russian individuals and legal entities. It has frozen the assets of a number of Russian banks and imposed export restrictions. In this light, Russia suspended peace treaty negotiations with Japan and halted dialogue on joint economic activity in the South Kuril Islands. Also, Moscow refused to extend partner status in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation to Tokyo.