Japan urgently repairs relations with Russia, the representative was scolded in person by the Russian side, first admit fault

Mikhail Galuzin, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, met with the visiting Japanese "Sasakawa Peace Foundation" delegation in Moscow.

In the meeting, the Russian side directly stated that the unprecedented deterioration of bilateral relations is entirely the fault of the Japanese government, and emphasized that the premise for promoting dialogue is to acknowledge their own responsibility.

The Russian side said that if the expert dialogue is non-political, Moscow is willing to provide support.

Additionally, the Russian side took the opportunity to introduce to Japan the principles of cooperation in the Arctic region, including the construction of transportation and logistics chains, environmental protection, and maintaining the lifestyle of indigenous people in the north, and reiterated the basic policy for resolving the Ukraine crisis, which is to eliminate security threats such as NATO's eastward expansion.

This meeting was clearly a trial run by the Japanese side.

With the upcoming meeting between U.S. and Russian leaders, Tokyo is worried that if U.S.-Russia relations ease, Japan might be excluded from the new great power negotiation framework.

To this end, Japan chose to send a non-governmental delegation from the Sasakawa Peace Foundation to visit Russia, to avoid directly touching political red lines, while secretly reserving channels for future contact.

However, the Russian side did not give face because of this semi-official status, but instead used the opportunity to publicly shift the blame back to Japan, equivalent to requiring Japan to first admit fault before discussing other issues, otherwise only non-political dialogue would be possible.

This turned the Japanese side's original low-key exploration plan into a passive scolding situation.

This is not only a warning to Tokyo, but also an information release to the outside world, especially the United States: Russia is not in a hurry to seek peace. If the conditions are met, proceed forward; if not, everything remains the same.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1840315016193024/

Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.