Japan distanced itself from Western anti-Russian sanctions
Japan intends to resume work on concluding a peace treaty with Russia and discussing joint projects, interrupting the pause caused by the pandemic and the change of government last fall.
This was announced by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At the same time, Russian diplomats and experts interviewed by Kommersant believe that these statements indicate Tokyo’s determination to unfreeze the political dialogue and trade and economic cooperation with Moscow.
“Premier Suga is making it clear that he intends to follow Shinzo Abe’s “two-track” policy in relations with Moscow, which involves negotiations on the territorial issue and the signing of a peace treaty with Moscow, combined with the development of business ties. Yoshihide Suga’s mention of the need to return to the agreements reached in 2018 in Singapore signals the Japanese side’s readiness to make serious concessions, since the joint Soviet-Japanese declaration of 1956 mentions not four, but two islands,” says the former Russian ambassador to Japan, Head of the Department of Diplomacy at MGIMO Ministry of Foreign Affairs Alexander Panov.
According to him, in the context of worsening relations between Russia and the West, Japan is distancing itself from the war of sanctions, limiting itself to political declarations in support of Western allies.
“The paradox is that, despite the absence of a peace treaty with Moscow, Japan has not introduced any sanctions of its own against Russia, neither personal nor sectoral, and is not considering them. Thus, Moscow’s relations with Tokyo, at least, do not look as openly conflictual as Russia’s relations with the United States and the EU. This provides a new chance to revive contacts in 2021 and transform Tokyo into a potential mediator between its Western allies and Moscow,” the diplomat said.
A similar opinion is shared by Dmitry Streltsov, head of the Department of Oriental Studies at MGIMO University of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
“The situation is developing in circles. What is happening today is somewhat reminiscent of the acute crisis during the reign of Barack Obama. Then, at the height of the conflict in Ukraine, Japan took a more restrained position towards Moscow compared to its Western allies and tried to become a bridge between Russia and the West. Something similar could very well happen today,” Streltsov believes.
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