THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
September 6, 2022 at 16:38 JST
Members of a Japanese delegation board a ship at Nemuro Port in Hokkaido for a visa-free visit to Etorofu, one of the islands making up the Northern Territories. (Pool)
Angered by Japan cooperating with Western nations in imposing economic sanctions, Russia has ended a long-running program to foster friendship and goodwill between the two nations.
The visa-free program to allow former residents of the disputed Northern Territories to visit their old homes was unilaterally revoked on Sept. 5 by Moscow.
An order dated Sept. 3 and signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin ordered the Russian Foreign Ministry to inform Japan about the decision.
The order revoked past agreements reached in 1991 between Japan and the Soviet Union and in 1999 between Japan and Russia regarding mutual visits by former islanders and Russians without the need for visas.
Leonid Slutsky, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs, told the TASS news agency that the decision was unavoidable and was meant as a retaliatory move against Japan for imposing the "illegal economic sanctions."
Japan was designated an unfriendly nation by Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February and Moscow announced it was suspending negotiations for a peace treaty with Japan as well as the program allowing Japanese former residents to visit the four islands without requiring a visa.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said at his Sept. 6 news conference that the latest move was “extremely inappropriate and something Japan can never accept.” He added that an official protest would be lodged through diplomatic channels.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at his own Sept. 6 news conference, “All responsibility for the current state of Japan-Russia relations lies entirely with Russia.”
He added that the situation meant that no exchange programs could be conducted for former residents of the four islands seized by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II and claimed by Tokyo.
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