Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Andrey Rudenko, granted an interview to TASS in which he outlined Russia’s views on Japan, Taiwan, and North Korea.
Rudenko delivered a sharp warning to Japan, where the administration of Japanese Prime Minister Kishida has accelerated the “implementation of abandoning a policy of peaceful development, which has been professed for many decades, and embark[ed] on a track of fast-tracked militarization.” He cited specific cases of concrete steps taken by Japan, such as “large-scale military exercises near Russia’s borders together with non-regional partners, the adoption of an updated version of doctrinal documents in the field of defense and security with a view to creating an attack potential, and an unprecedented increase in defense spending….
“We consider such activity by Tokyo as a serious challenge to the security of our country and the Asia-Pacific Region as a whole. We warn that if this practice continues, we will be forced to take proportionate counter-measures in order to block military threats to Russia,” he warned. Japan’s “anti-Russian policy” is a hindrance to a peace treaty between the two nations, which has yet to be signed since the end of World War II, he added.
It should be noted that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated last July, advocated for a peace treaty between the two nations based on mutual trust and development. Abe had told TASS in January 2018:
“Our country will deepen its ties with Russia, promoting the joint economic activities on the four northern islands and the eight-point economic cooperation plan. We will consistently, one by one, implement the agreements reached with Russia. The territorial issue will be resolved, and the Japanese-Russian peace treaty will be signed on that basis. Based on relations of deep trust with President [Vladimir] Putin, we will build [a] cooperation relationship on various international issues, including the North Korean problem.”
