7 Jun 2022 16:01

Russia suspending fishing agreement with Japan - Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW. June 7 (Interfax) - Moscow is suspending the Russian-Japanese Agreement on Some Matters of Cooperation in the Field of Fishing Operations for Marine Living Resources, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a commentary published on the ministry website.

Tokyo "has taken a course towards freezing payments due under the Agreement on Some Matters of Cooperation in the Field of Fishing Operations for Marine Living Resources, which the governments of Russia and Japan concluded in 1998," Zakharova said.

Tokyo has been stalling the signing of an annual executive document on the provision of gratis technical assistance to the Sakhalin region, "which is an integral element of the fulfillment of this intergovernmental agreement," the statement said.

"Under these circumstances, we have to suspend the implementation of the Agreement of 1998 until the Japanese side fully meets its financial obligations," it said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry regretted the Japanese conduct and said that Moscow "invariably viewed the interaction based on this agreement as an important area of Russian-Japanese relations in the field of fishing."

"The agreement, based on a balance of interests of both countries, has allowed Japanese fishermen to harvest resources off the South Kuril Islands of the Russian Federation on the basis of a quota allotted by Russia," it said.