By Burc Eruygur
ISTANBUL (AA) - The Russian deputy foreign minister on Tuesday said dialogue between Moscow and Tokyo on a peace treaty is ”impossible” due to Japan’s “anti-Russian course.”
“It is quite obvious that it is impossible to discuss the signing of such a document with a state that takes openly unfriendly positions and allows itself direct threats against our country,” Andrey Rudenko said in an interview with Russian state news agency TASS.
Rudenko said Moscow does not see signs of Tokyo moving away from its “anti-Russian course” and does not see any attempts to correct the situation.
The diplomat recalled that negotiations between Russia and Japan were taking place on a peace treaty “designed to determine the main directions for the accelerated development of the entire complex of Russian-Japanese relations."
“With the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, (Japanese Prime Minister Fumio) Kishida’s administration actively joined the Western-led Russophobic campaign, in fact, completely dismantling the results of mutually beneficial cooperation accumulated over many years,” Rudenko said.
Tokyo has joined its Western allies in sanctioning Moscow for its “special military operation” in Ukraine, with hundreds of Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, alongside companies and organizations, having been sanctioned by Japan.
Last October, just a week after a Japanese political affairs consul was declared persona non grata by Moscow, Tokyo asked a consul in Russia’s consulate in the northern Japanese city of Sapporo to leave the country.