TOKYO, February 14. /TASS/. Normalization of relations between Russia and Japan is possible in the not-too-distant future if talks on Ukraine produce result and the process of lifting economic sanctions begins, a leading Japanese expert on Russia Taisuke Abiru has told TASS.

"There is no doubt that Prime Minister Takaichi fully understands the importance of Japan-Russia relations, as evidenced by the fact thatshe personally attended and delivered a speech at the National Convention Demanding the Return of the Northern Territories (Japanese name for Southern Kurils) held in Tokyo on February 7, the last day of her busy Lower House election campaign," said Abiru, a senior research fellow at the Sasakawa Peace Foundation and an author of numerous books on Russia, who also took part in several Valdai Discussion Forum meetings.

In his opinion, "two conditions must be in place for the Takaichi administration to turn its current policy toward Russia into a positive one."

"One is a strong domestic political base," the expert said, adding that this requirement has already been met "with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) sweeping victory in the recent Lower House election."

The second requirement is that peace and ceasefire talks on Ukraine, actively mediated by US President Donald Trump’s administration "must bear fruit and a trend toward lifting economic sanctions against Russia must be created." "The focus will therefore be on when the latter condition will be met," he added.

Current cooperation projects remain

"Until then, existing cooperation projects, mainly in the energy sector, such as the Sakhalin-2 LNG project, will be maintained," Abiru believes.

Japan receives almost 9-10% of all imported LNG, which is one of the key elements of the country’s energy balance, from Sakhalin-2.

"In addition, the two countries will gradually expand personnel exchanges in areas not subject to sanctions, such as the arts, culture, and academia," he said. "In this way, the groundwork should be steadily laid for the full-fledged normalization of Japan-Russia relations, which is expected to take place in the not-too-distant future."

At the same time, the expert noted that "the deterioration of Japan-China relations will also have some impact on the Takaichi administration's formulation of a new policy toward Russia."

Certain observers believe that closer ties with Russia will help Tokyo balance the cold spell in relations with Beijing to some extent.

After the start of Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine, Japan imposed several packages of sanctions against Moscow. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that it does not intend to continue consultations on the peace treaty, citing the impossibility of discussing such a fundamental document with a state that takes an openly unfriendly stance and seeks to harm Russia’s interests.

Besides, Moscow also withdrew from talks on joint business activities in Southern Kurils, and visits of former Japanese residents to these islands stopped. The Russian Foreign Ministry said on February 2 that the resumption of Moscow-Tokyo dialogue will be possible only after the Japanese government ceases its Russophobic policies. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s official spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, told reporters on February 2 that because of Tokyo’s "clumsy steps", Russian-Japanese relations have been brought to a critical "point of no return."