What Russia Wants From Its Dialogue With Japan

The building in Tokyo where Russo-Japanese talks are being held is guarded by dozens of police officers and special agents.

In front of the police checkpoint there is a line of black and white minivans equipped with loudspeakers and painted in rising sun liveries – it’s Japan’s ultranationalists chanting their slogans, demanding to review the status of Russia’s four Kuril islands – Shokotan, Habomai, Iturup and Kunashir, which Japan considers its own.

The issue of the Kurils has kept Russia and Japan from signing a peace treaty for decades. But Moscow and Tokyo have different approaches to the issue, since Japan sees the handover of the islands as a prerequisite to further peace treaty negotiations and Russia does not accept such rhetoric.

Russia gained control over the islands as a result of post-World War 2 treaties and is now deploying additional troops to that and other Far East border regions to protect its territory – something which recently caused a lot of stir in Tokyo. Russian defense minister Sergey Shoigu says, however, that the deployment of troops to the Kurils is not aimed against Japan:

“The deployment of the division has been going on for 6 years. They are being stationed in 3 Russian regions – the Primorye region, Sakhalin, and Amur regions. The division’s aim is not to threaten someone, but exclusively for the protection of the Russian Federation.”

Russia has security concerns of its own, like the deployment of the US missile defense systems in the Asia Pacific region. Moscow says that such measures taken by the US and Japan are “not a proportional response.”

However, both Japan and Russia agree that North Korea’s nuclear threat, which according to Washington and Tokyo is the main reason for their missile defense systems deployment, has to be dealt with in accordance with international law.

​The 2+2 talks between Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, his Japanese colleague Fumio Kishida, Russia’s defense minister Sergey Shoigu and Japan’s defense minister Tomomi Inada were first held in 2014. But negotiations had to be put on hold for more than three years, since relations between the two countries deteriorated after Japan imposed sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine and was pressured by Barack Obama’s administration to suspend cooperation with Moscow. But in December of 2016 following the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tokyo both sides agreed to resume dialogue.

Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov says that Russia is reviewing Japan’s proposals on cross-border cooperation and the development of the Kurils. That includes a visa-free regime for people living in neighboring Russian and Japanese regions.

​Finally, both sides have agreed on the dates of their next big bilateral meeting: Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe will be visiting Moscow in April. It’s also expected that next year Russia will be celebrating the year of Japan, and authorities in the Land of the Rising Sun will reply by announcing the year of Russia in their country. However, whether both countries will be able to reach the long-awaited peace treaty by that time – remains uncertain.