MOSCOW, July 10 /TASS/. Moscow has presented Japan with the conceptual framework for a peace treaty, but has not yet received a response, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressed the international forum Primakov Readings named Russia and the post-COVID World. TOKYO, September 26. /TASS/. Japan and Russia were closest to signing a peace treaty in 2018 during a meeting between then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin, the former Head of Government of Japan said in an interview with The Japanese business daily Nikkei. OSAKA — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed Saturday to speed up negotiations on a peace treaty based on the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration. Faced with such a break in the negotiations, a senior Japanese official said: “It is unlikely that we will reach an agreement at the G20 summit.” In a radio show, Abe said he wanted to go as far as possible in a peace treaty. 5. President Vladimir V. Putin of the Russian Federation invited Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to make an official visit to Russia to promote the development of bilateral relations in various areas and the positive development of peace negotiations.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori gratefully accepted the invitation. The date of the visit is agreed by the diplomatic channels. The joint declaration provided for the continuation of negotiations for a peace treaty in Article 9 after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the countries and also provided that “the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which takes into account Japan`s aspirations and takes into account the interests of the Japanese state, declares itself ready, in this context, to transfer the Habomai Islands and Shikoton Island to Japan, with the actual transfer of these islands to Japan taking place after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan.” [2] [4] At that time, the United States threatened to retain the Ryukyu Islands if Japan concealed the other islands and prevented negotiations on the promised treaty. [5] [6] The failure of Japan`s aspiration for peace with Russia was perhaps the most visible manifestation of Abe sui generis` foreign policy doctrine, known as the “proactive contribution to peace. According to this doctrine, Tokyo would “proactively create an international environment of order and security desirable for Japan… On the basis of the principle of international cooperation. Unlike most of his post-war predecessors, who largely settle for a Japan as Washington`s security protectorate, the outgoing Japanese prime minister has long tried to position the country as the regional linchpin of Asia with its own geopolitical vision. Indeed, in 2017, Washington`s concept of “Free and Open Indo Pacific” was partially deduced from Abe`s speech in India in 2007, in which a maritime coalition of democratic powers would support the Arc of Freedom and Prosperity on the periphery of eurasian land. The intellectual sub-aspects of Anglo-American geopolitical thinkers such as Halford Mackinder, Alfred Thayer Mahan and Nicholas Spykman were recognizable in Abe`s imagination. Although his first term ended prematurely in 2007, Abe`s worldview received a major revaluation by returning to the canton in December 2012, and immediately after, he unveiled “Asia`s Democratic Security Diamond”. The concept supported Japan as a regional hub linking the United States, Australia and India as a maritime coalition force in the Indo-Pacific area, laying the solid foundation for the definitive relaunch of the four-party security dialogue in 2017. In the late 1990s, Russian leaders began to move from west to east, considering improving relations with Japan as part of these efforts, and saw Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto`s position as an opportunity.