21 Mar 2022 19:07

Russia announces measures of response to Japanese govt's decisions - Russian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. March 21 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday announced Moscow's measures of response to the decisions adopted by the Japanese government.

"Bearing in mind the clearly unfriendly nature of the unilateral restrictions introduced by Japan against Russia in relation to the situation in Ukraine, the following measures will be taken. In these conditions, the Russian side does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty due to the impossibility of discussing the signing of a fundamental document on bilateral relations with a state which pursues a blatantly unfriendly position and seeks to harm the interests of our country," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"A decision has been adopted to stop Japanese citizens' visa-free trips on the basis of the 1991 agreement on visa-free exchanges between the South Kuril Islands of the Russian Federation and Japan and the 1999 agreement, which maximally simplified visits by former Japanese residents of the South Kuril Islands to their former places of residence," according to the document.

"The Russian side is also withdrawing from the dialogue with Japan on establishing joint economic activity on the South Kuril Islands. The Russian side is blocking the extension of Japan's status as a sectoral dialogue partner of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization," according to the statement, which is available for viewing on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website.

"All responsibility for the damage caused to bilateral cooperation and the interests of Japan itself rests with the authorities in Tokyo, which have deliberately made a choice in favor of this anti-Russian policy instead of developing mutually beneficial cooperation and good neighborly relations," it said.