Tokyo sees Moscow suspending peace negotiations “irrational” and “unacceptable”

Tokyo, 22 Mar The Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, today considered Russia's announced decision to suspend peace treaty negotiations following the sanctions imposed by Tokyo following the invasion of Ukraine “extremely irrational and totally unacceptable”. “Russia's reaction is extremely irrational and totally unacceptable,” Kishida told the Diet Budget Committee (Parliament) following the decision announced late Monday by Moscow. For his part, the minister spokesman, Hiokazu Matsuno, explained at a press conference that the Japanese Foreign Ministry has transmitted a protest to the Russian ambassador to Japan, Mikhail Galuzin. “The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a unilateral attempt to change by force the status quo (of the territory) and is an act that affects the basis of international order. It is clearly a violation of international law and unacceptable,” Matsuno added. Since the beginning of Russian intervention in Ukraine, Tokyo has imposed sanctions on a dozen Russian organizations and corporations, in addition to 76 citizens such as President Vladimir Putin, as well as 12 Belarusians, including his counterpart Alexandr Lukashenko. According to Matsuno, Russia's decision to stop the peace negotiations “was triggered by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which is now trying to turn it around to condition the relationship with Japan.” “This measure is extremely unfair, it will never be accepted and it represents our strongest protest,” said the spokesman minister, who insisted that for Tokyo there is no change in the “basic” diplomatic line with Russia, whereby Japan seeks to solve the territorial problem between the two countries before signing a peace treaty. Both are fighting for the sovereignty of the South Kuriles (called Northern Territories in Japan), a group of four islands in the North Pacific administered by Japan and which the Soviet Union invaded as soon as World War II ended. After years of rapprochement, Tokyo and Moscow pledged in 2018 to sign the peace treaty, although an amendment to the Russian Constitution would later be approved in 2020 that prevents the transfer of any part of their territory. The ownership of these islands is the main reason why both countries have not yet signed peace after the end of World War II in 1945. CHIEF yk-asb/jpd