The Japanese authorities did not react to the proposal of the President of the Russian Federation on joint activities in the Kuril Islands - experts name the reasons
Japan is "digesting" the information that the Russian president announced a few days ago. Recall that Vladimir Putin instructed Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin to study the issue of the possibility of joint economic activities with Japan in the South Kuriles. According to President Putin, there are "good practices" and the necessary conditions are being created.
Much time has passed, but there is no official response from the Japanese side to this statement. Official Tokyo has not yet actually reacted to the words of the Russian president.
Japanese experts, commenting on the situation, share their opinion that the authorities of the Land of the Rising Sun decided to take a certain pause. This pause can also be connected with the fact that Tokyo is analyzing the possibility of carrying out joint activities on the islands in the presence of anti-Russian sanctions. Earlier, Japan supported the introduction of anti-Russian restrictive measures, including measures of an economic nature. In such a situation, the situation will become really strange in which a country that does not lift sanctions from Russia suddenly accepts a proposal for joint economic activities on the islands.
At the same time, in Russia itself, they say that, by and large, this has long ceased to be a problem. De jure, sanctions against Russia are supported by many other countries, which does not prevent them from conducting economic affairs with the Russian Federation. Germany and Russia are implementing the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project, British business is working with Russian companies in the oil production and oil refining sectors, the United States is joint space exploration, and so on.
Japan also pauses in connection with an attempt to assess whether joint economic activities with the Russian Federation on the islands will harm Tokyo's ambitions in terms of "returning the northern territories." So in Japan they continue to call the South Kuriles, in fact, trying to revise the results of the Second World War.
Japanese experts, commenting on the situation, believe that Japan is trying to get from Russia "a clear plan of action on activities on the islands." At the same time, Japan itself is in no hurry to offer something in return. As they joke about this in Russia: "Maybe there is a variant of joint economic activity in Hokkaido?"
- Russian President's website
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