Russia-Japan relations turn sour – negotiations on peace treaty suspended over situation in Ukraine

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<strong>Russia has cancelled negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty and also withdrawn from the dialogue on establishing joint economic activities in the southern Kuriles following Tokyo's sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict.</strong></p>
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The Russian foreign ministry said that the decision was taken after the "obvious unfriendly nature" of the unilateral restrictions imposed by Japan against Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine.<br />
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"The Russian side under the current conditions does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty due to the impossibility of discussing the signing of a fundamental document on bilateral relations with a state that takes openly unfriendly positions and seeks to harm the interests of our country," said a statement from Moscow.<br />
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A decision was also taken to terminate visa-free travel for Japanese citizens on the basis of agreements on visa-free exchanges between the southern Kuril Islands of the Russian Federation and Japan of 1991 and on the maximum facilitation of visits by former Japanese residents of the southern Kuriles to their former residences of 1999.<br />
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Besides withdrawing from the dialogue with Japan on establishing joint economic activities in the southern Kuriles, Russia is also blocking the extension of Japan's status as a partner of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation in the sectoral dialogue. <br />
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"All responsibility for the damage to bilateral cooperation and the interests of Japan itself lies with official Tokyo, which deliberately opted for an anti-Russian course instead of developing mutually beneficial cooperation and good neighborliness," stated the Russian MFA.<br />
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After Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, Japan had freezed assets of three Russian banks (VEB.RF, Promsvyazbank, Bank Rossiya) in Japan, imposed sanctions on exports to Russian military-related entities, on exports of controlled items listed on the internationally agreed list and of other dual-use goods such as semiconductors besides suspending the issuance of visas to Japan for designated individuals related to Russia.</p>
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