The Tokyo-Washington alliance is preventing the development of relations between Japan and Russia and the conclusion of a peace treaty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday, adding that Moscow is also concerned about the possible deployment of medium- and short-range missiles by the United States on Japanese territory
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2022) The Tokyo-Washington alliance is preventing the development of relations between Japan and Russia and the conclusion of a peace treaty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday, adding that Moscow is also concerned about the possible deployment of medium- and short-range missiles by the United States on Japanese territory.
"Pressure is being placed on Japan to join the sanctions, and Japan joins the sanctions, not all, but many of them. Pressure is also being brought regarding military security issues. We are concerned that Japan has long been an ally of the United States. There is an agreement of 1960 (Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan), providing the Americans with broad freedom of maneuver and action on the Japanese territory," Lavrov said during a press conference.
The foreign minister went on to say that Japan's alliance with a country that considers Russia and China as threats does not facilitate the establishment of an optimal atmosphere for the development of relations with Russia. Given rumors of possible US medium- and short-range missiles deployment in Japan, further security risks to Russia would result.
"If we want to be close partners, we need to determine how we can overcome very serious contradictions concerning the international agenda. And when we establish a genuine new-quality partnership in all these areas, I am convinced that all the issues, including those related to the peace treaty, will be solved much more easily than in the current, sometimes even confrontational atmosphere," the diplomat added.
Relations between Russia and Japan have long been complicated by the fact that they never signed a permanent peace treaty following World War II. The main stumbling block is their dispute over a group of four islands Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai.
