Moscow/Tokyo: Russia has withdrawn from the agreement regarding the disputed Kuril Islands with Japan. Accusing that Japan has not cleared the dues in the transactions according to the agreement, the Russian foreign ministry has withdrawn from the agreement signed two decades ago. A few hours ago, Japan held talks with NATO regarding increasing cooperation and holding joint war exercises. This is the Russian reaction to that.
Moreover, Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi held a meeting with Rob Bauer, the military committee chief at NATO. Concerns were expressed during the meeting over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was also discussed that Japan would be increased cooperation with European countries in the coming times. Japanese Defence Minister Kishi welcomed the NATO initiatives for expansion in the Indo-Pacific sector.
Japanese military participates in the NATO war exercises being held in the Mediterranean Sea. Discussions have been held over the participation of the Japanese military and increasing the Japanese share of NATO expenditure. Western media claimed that this would further strengthen the military cooperation between NATO and Japan. Within a few hours of this meeting, Russia announced withdrawal from the agreement with Japan.
Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman, announced the Russian withdrawal from the agreement regarding the Kuril Islands. Japan criticised this Russian announcement. Japan lashed out that this unilateral Russian decision was deplorable. At the same time, Japan asserted that it would make all the necessary efforts to secure its ships within the Kuril Islands‘ limits. As per the agreement signed in 1998, Russia has permitted fishing by Japanese ships in the Kuril Islands region. Russia had allowed this concession against certain transactions. Russia claims the Kuril Islands as its sovereign territory. Whereas Japan claims that the Kuril Islands are part of the four Japanese island groups known as the Northern Territories. This dispute between Russia and Japan has been brewing for the last many decades. Given this dispute, Russia did not sign the peace agreement with Japan after the second world war. Therefore, after the Russian withdrawal from the agreement regarding the Kuril Islands, the threat of a confrontation between Russian and Japanese destroyers in this region increased significantly.
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