Japan criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday after he said conditions are not in place for the resumption of talks on a postwar peace treaty due to Tokyo's support for Ukraine, describing the remarks as "totally unacceptable."
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said bilateral negotiations have been stalled as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, adding it is "extremely unreasonable" for Moscow to blame Tokyo.
"Russia's aggression against Ukraine is an outrageous act that shakes the foundations of the international order," Hayashi, the top government spokesman, said at a regular press conference.
At a meeting with Kyodo News and other international news agencies in St. Petersburg on Wednesday, Putin said Russia is not refusing to engage in a dialogue with Japan, but for it to occur Tokyo's position on the war in Ukraine first needs to change.
Japan and Russia have been at odds over the sovereignty of four islands off Hokkaido, seized by the Soviet Union following the Asian country's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945. The dispute has prevented the two nations from signing a postwar peace treaty.
In March 2022, Russia announced its suspension of peace pact negotiations with Japan, lambasting Tokyo as unfriendly for imposing sanctions on Moscow in lockstep with the United States and other Western countries over the invasion.
With Putin saying he will not shy away from visiting the islands, Hayashi said such a trip would "run counter to Japan's position on the Northern Territories," using the Japanese name for the islands that Russia calls the Southern Kurils.
