Russia has suspended an agreement that gave Japan permission to fish near disputed Southern Kuril islands after accusing the nation of failing to make deal payments.
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In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said: “In the current situation, we are forced to suspend the implementation of the 1998 Agreement until the Japanese side fulfils all its financial obligations".
The dispute between the two countries has been ongoing since the end of World War Two when the islands – which are called the Northern Territories by Japan and the Kurils by Russia – were first seized from Japan.
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The fishing deal was made in 1998 and allows Japanese boats to fish around the disputed islands. The sea is a hot spot for octopus, pollack and mackerel. Prior to the deal, Japanese boats were sometimes shot at or captured by Russia.
In May, Japan announced further economic sanctions against Russia, which included banning exports of certain cutting-edge technologies that were set to be delivered to some Russian scientific research institutions. This week, Japan and NATO also stepped up further military collaboration.
Russia’s decision to relinquish the fishing rights is seen by some as a response to Japan’s sanctions.
However, on Wednesday Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary criticized Russia’s decision but cited Japanese development funding of projects on Sakhalin – a large Russian island that sits just north of Japan – as the reason Russia had withdrawn the fishing rights.
He said it was “regrettable that Russia one-sidedly announced it is suspending the cooperation in this manner” but admitted that Japan had not made its latest payment for the project.
“We will do our utmost to protect the safety of the Japanese fishing operation", Matsuno added.
On Sakhalin, there are ongoing oil and gas projects in which the Japanese government and Japanese companies have stakes. In a statement in March Japan said that the projects were important for its energy security.
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At the time, Shell and Exxon Mobil said they would be exiting some of the Sakhalin projects as part of sanctions against Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
The 1998 deal is just one of four fishing industry related deals between the two nations that concern the disputed waters. The second and third were negotiated this year and covered rights over salmon and seaweed. The fourth is set to be made in December and will decide upon fishing quotas.
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