"I believe that peace treaty should be signed now, right at this stage. In my opinion, forging a peace treaty doesn’t come down merely to resolving the territorial issue. If we were to fast-forward to a hundred years in the future, this peace treaty means that Japan and Russia could become leaders of the peace process in the world," Kimura said.
He added that he and his party welcome the intention professed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to improve ties with Russia, but pointed out that there are three major factors that threaten to undermine these efforts.
"First of all, it’s the powers (in Japan) that support the pro-American stance. They insist that economic cooperation with Russia is worthless and that Shikotan and Habomai islands will never be returned to Japan. You could say that they fan the anti-Russian sentiment. Secondly, it’s the liberal wing which claims that Russia took Crimea by force, and that Japan must not remove sanctions imposed against Russia because we’re part of the G7, and it would be therefore a violation of the international cooperation principles. They also believe that no meetings with Putin should be held because he hinted in his speeches at the possibility of using nuclear weapons in a confrontation with NATO. And thirdly, there’s the Japanese Communist Party which insists on turning over all four Kuril Islands to Japan," Kimura explained.
He also added that he always supported efforts to make US forces withdraw from Japanese soil because it would help make Japan truly independent, and because the security agreement between the United States and Japan is humiliating to the Japanese people.
According to Kimura, the first things he would mandate if he were to become Japan’s Prime Minister would be the withdrawal of US troops from the country’s territory and the signing of a peace treaty with Russia.
"The US army must leave. This doesn’t mean that I call for quarreling with the US. I say that we must clearly declare our independence and attain it for Japan. Also, like I said before, I believe we need to sign a peace treaty and improve relations with Russia as soon as possible. I advocate peaceful coexistence and a full, not selective, neutrality," he said.
