Putin's Japan visit: A Check up on Sovereignty

The visit will be held within the framework of work on the signing of a peace treaty between Japan and Russia. Tokyo earlier believed that without the transfer of the four Kuril islands, the signing is not possible, but Moscow emphasized that any action should be taken only after the juridical consolidation of good-neighborly relations.

Russia stresses that its aim in itself is not merely concluding a peace treaty. However, the signing of this document for Japan, by contrast, is very important.

According to the tradition that plays an important role in Japanese society, the ruler should fulfill his destined purpose, and the present time is the era of the reign of Akihito - Heisei which, translated from Japanese, means “peace”.

Especially now when it is clearly coming to an end, concluding the peace treaty with Russia is important for Japan. This was indirectly stated by Shinzo Abe during his visit to Russia, calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to begin a new era by signing a contract on territories.

Before his visit, Vladimir Putin made an important statement which was taken note of in Tokyo. Many Japanese media ahead of the visit released headlines citing the Russian leader: “Russia and Japan do not have any problems”. However, in reality, the situation is quite different. “We have no territorial problems with Japan; it’s Japan that believes that it has territorial problems, but we are ready to discuss this”, Putin said, adding that Russia would not go for any more or less serious territorial concessions.

In addition, Putin stressed that documents can only be signed with a sovereign country, hinting at Japan's support for the anti-Russian sanctions. “Russian-Japanese relations are unlikely to be related to the events in Syria or Ukraine”, he said, which was almost immediately followed by Tokyo’s provision of about $2 billion in military assistance to Ukraine on Washington’s order.