TOKYO, February 19. /TASS/. At least 73.9% of Japanese residents think that current relations with Russia are not in a good shape to a certain extent, the Kyodo news agency reported on Friday, citing results of a survey by the chancellery of the Japanese cabinet of ministers conducted from October through December 2020.
It was noted that the share of these respondents increased by 7.1 per cent compared to the previous study conducted in 2019. Additionally, a corresponding evaluation of relations with China was given by 81.8% of respondents (a 6.3% increase), and 82.4% (a 5.5% decrease) said the same about relations with the Republic of Korea. At the same time, 86.3% of respondents stated that they more or less positively evaluate relations with the US, the share of these respondents increased by 6.1%.
About 1,800 people over 18 participated in the survey.
Since the middle of the last century, Moscow and Tokyo have been intermittently negotiating a peace agreement following World War II. The main obstacle to its conclusion was the question of the ownership of the southern part of the Kuril ridge. In 1945, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but the Japanese side disputes the belonging of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and the group of now uninhabited islands, which in Japan is called Habomai. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russian sovereignty over them, which has the appropriate international legal form, is beyond question.