The outcome of the latest talks between the Japanese and Russian leaders reinforced the view that Tokyo has trapped itself into playing a constant balancing act in dealing with Moscow, which is in a growing feud with the West. The 21st face-to-face meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo
The outcome of the latest talks between the Japanese and Russian leaders reinforced the view that Tokyo has trapped itself into playing a constant balancing act in dealing with Moscow, which is in a growing feud with the West.
The 21st face-to-face meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin came at a time when ties between the United States, Japan’s key ally, and Russia have deteriorated due partly to multiple international conflicts.
Abe and Putin agreed on new joint business projects, but there was no visible progress over the two countries’ territorial dispute.
Japanese officials said the leaders discussed the Russian-held, Japanese-claimed islands, but their joint press conference and statement did little to ease skepticism about whether Tokyo’s economic incentives would pay off and eventually lead Moscow to consider giving the islets, seized at the end of World War II, back to Japan.
There was no sign that Putin, who met with Abe for the first time since being re-elected president in March, has changed his stance on the islands off Japan’s northern main island of Hokkaido, called the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia.
Eager to sign a peace treaty and make a breakthrough on the island spat, Abe has been trying to maintain a delicate balance between Japan’s Group of Seven peers and Russia, which is locked in confrontation with them, but to no avail.
