The administration of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is consistently destroying the positive attitudes accumulated over many years in relations with Russia to please the United States, said Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. Comment posted on site departments on Tuesday, February 14.
The diplomat drew attention to the fact that the so-called day of the northern territories in Japan on February 7 this year “distinguished itself by a special intensity of Russophobia – both in the statements of official representatives and the aggressive actions of ultra-right forces near Russian foreign institutions.”
Zakharova also recommended that the authors of the petition, adopted at the all-Japan rally held on February 7, address the stated demands for the establishment of Russian-Japanese relations and the resumption of visits by former residents of the southern Kuriles to the burial places of their relatives to the Kishida administration, which, in turn, “consistently destroys the mutual positive efforts in bilateral relations, neglecting the fundamental interests of their people for the sake of the United States.
National rallies for the return of the northern territories are held annually on February 7 in memory of the first Russian-Japanese treaty signed on this day in 1855. Such meetings are traditionally attended by government ministers, parliament deputies from the ruling and opposition parties, and former residents of the southern part of the Kuriles.
Earlier, on February 10, Zakharova said that the topic of a peace treaty with Japan was closed for Russia at the moment. The diplomat noted that Russia does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty, since Tokyo takes unfriendly positions towards the Russian Federation and seeks to harm the country.
As a result of World War II, Russia and Japan never signed a peace treaty. The main snag in reaching agreements is Tokyo’s claims to the South Kuriles. Japan still calls the islands of Kunashir, Iturup and a number of territories of the Lesser Kuril ridge its northern territories, although as a result of the Second World War they passed to the USSR.
