MADRID 29 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Russian authorities have alerted the Government of Japan this Friday that its defense of “Western policies”, which it considers “hostile” towards Moscow, represent a clear obstacle to the signing of a peace treaty between the two countries, which They remain in a state of armistice since the end of World War II.
“Japan’s actions (…) prevent any negotiation on the peace treaty with Russia,” said Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov, during a press conference in which he addressed bilateral relations between both countries after several days of cross accusations between the parties.
In this sense, he has stated that the problem of the peace treaty “is very complex given the ties” and disputes maintained between the parties for years. Even so, he highlighted that, despite this complexity, Moscow and Tokyo have found the “strength” and “political wisdom” to “commit to dialogue.”
With these negotiations, he said, the two countries seek to find lasting solutions, a situation that improved during the previous Japanese administrations, in which “the dialogue was intense.” “Progress was made to reach solutions,” he stated.
However, he has accused Japan of showing “solidarity” with the “hostile line taken by Western countries, which impose packages of sanctions and introduce restrictions against the Russian economy.” “All these measures currently significantly interfere with the negotiations,” he clarified. “It was not Russia that stopped the dialogue and introduced restrictions: it was Japan that started this,” he said.
After World War II, Japan and the then Soviet Union reestablished diplomatic relations, but their talks to sign a peace agreement stalled due to a territorial dispute over some Pacific islands – the Kurils, known as the Northern Territories in Japan – -. These islands were taken by Soviet troops in 1945, but Japan claims them as its own.
Tokyo argues its claim in the Bilateral Trade and Border Treaty that it signed with Moscow on February 7, 1855, while the Kremlin relies on international treaties signed at the end of the military conflict.
The dispute, which has become an insurmountable problem for the peace agreement, took on an even more bitter turn last April when Japan used the term “illegal occupation” for the first time in almost 20 years to refer to the status of the islands.