2024-07-29 20:09:42
The Kremlin said today that a warning issued by Japan urging its citizens to avoid travel to Russia shows that Tokyo is growing closer to the United States and that the Japanese leadership does not want to develop relations with Moscow, Reuters reported.
Earlier today, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported that Japanese lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, known for his calls for good relations with Russia, visited Moscow for talks with senior local politicians, thus violating his government’s recommendation against such trips.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the Japanese leadership appears to be pressuring Japanese citizens who want to improve relations with Moscow not to visit Russia, BTA reported.
Asked whether there will be contacts between Suzuki and the Kremlin, Peskov said that there are none planned.
“It is clear that Tokyo is dominated by individuals who do not support the development of bilateral relations. “Unfortunately, the current leadership of Japan has expressed solidarity with the actions of the collective West hostile to Russia, and this cannot help but harm bilateral relations,” Peskov said.
“Unfortunately, the leadership of Japan does not limit itself to its stance against our country and tries to put pressure on those who share a different point of view and try to find ways to establish contacts,” he added.
Relations between Tokyo and Moscow have long been dogged by a territorial dispute over part of the Kuril Islands, which has prevented the conclusion of a peace treaty decades after the end of World War II, according to Reuters.