Russia halts peace talks with Japan over Kuril Islands

MOSCOW

Russia said Monday it decided to withdraw from peace talks with Japan over the Kuril Islands and all related projects amid Tokyo’s sanctions against Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Japan’s “clearly unfriendly position,” which seeks to harm Russia’s interest, makes it impossible to sign a fundamental document on bilateral relations.

The ministry said it also terminates visa-free travel of Japanese citizens to the southern Kuril Islands, and stops the dialogue with Japan on establishing joint economic activities there.

Russia also blocks Japan's partner status in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization. 

“All responsibility for the damage to bilateral cooperation and the interests of Japan itself lies with Tokyo, which deliberately made a choice in favor of an anti-Russian course instead of developing mutually beneficial cooperation and good neighborliness,” the ministry said.

Japan earlier joined anti-Russian sanctions amid the Russia-Ukraine war, which started on Feb. 24.

Russia and Japan have not signed a peace treaty after World War II and have a territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands.

At the 1945 Yalta Conference, the Soviet Union agreed to start military operations on the eastern front under an agreement with its western allies, and in exchange, received some Japanese territories, including the Kuril Islands.

After the war, however, Japan rejected the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands.

Due to the dispute, Russia and Japan have never signed a peace treaty and are technically still at war. As both sides claim the territories, the question of the Kurils’ sovereignty remains uncertain.

Tokyo regularly protests visits of Russian officials to the islands.

Russian authorities fear the possible deployment of US missile systems on the islands if they are returned to Japan, creating a direct military threat to Russia.