Russian Foreign Ministry announces conditions for normalization of dialogue with Japan

Russia refuses to negotiate with Japan on an agreement on marine fishing in the Southern Kuril Islands because of the sanctions policy pursued by the Japanese leadership. This was reported in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

The Foreign Ministry noted that after February 24 last year, relations between Moscow and Tokyo began to deteriorate rapidly, and the Japanese leadership violated all international norms and introduced 15 packages of sanctions against Russia during this time.

The Minisrty of Foreign Affairs drew attention to the fact that the anti-Russian measures taken by the Japanese leadership run counter to the 1998 agreement on strengthening and developing good-neighborliness, and therefore Moscow cannot coordinate the holding of intergovernmental consultations on the implementation of these agreements.

The Russian Foreign Ministry added that in order to return to a normal dialogue with Russia, Japan must demonstrate the desire to improve relations between the two countries. At the moment, the leadership of Japan does not see such a desire, the department added.

This week, Japan extended personal sanctions against Russian officials over the situation in Ukraine. The new restrictive measures will come into force on February 3, 2023 and will affect 36 individuals and 3 organizations. In total, today this list consists of 644 people and 56 companies.