Moscow - Japan's introduction of sanctions against Russia is disappointing but it is clear that they are coordinated from a single center separated from both countries by an ocean, Russian State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin said on Sept. 9 upon opening a Russian-Japanese forum in Moscow.
“My colleagues-parliamentarians and I were disappointed by Japan’s introduction of sanctions against Russia,” Naryshkin said.
“It is evident to any unbiased observer that anti-Russian attacks are currently coordinated essentially from one center and the center is separated from Russia and Japan by an ocean,” he said.
According to Naryshkin, “sanctions are an element of bald economic and political blackmail,” they are insignificant in legal terms as they are not based on any just court rulings and are not supported by UN resolutions.
To a large extent sanctions disrupt and break the order of international economic relations, which has been formed for decades, the speaker said. “Negative consequences of sanctions directly concern those who were forced to join them. Entire institutions and dialogues, which were formed with such effort over decades, are idle,” he said.
Russia and Japan know “how difficult it is to create the atmosphere of trust and how many problems any pause, even a temporary one, could create in cooperation,” Naryshkin said.
“Those, who try to pressure Russia, have chosen the wrong path, the sanctions introduced have led to a further increase of violence, not a decline, as the Kyiv authorities took them as a reason to enhance the punitive operation in the southeast of the country, which resulted in new destruction and numerous casualties,” he said.
The virus of misunderstanding has hit international relations today, Naryshkin said. “International affairs and international relations are infected to a certain extent with the virus of misunderstanding between the countries,” Naryshkin said.
Western partners should “engage their head” and distance themselves from Washington’s aggressive policy, the speaker said upon opening the forum.
Former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, deputy chairman of the Japanese federation of economic organizations, head of the Russian-Japanese economic committee Sasaki Norio, and head of the Japanese Agency for Natural Resources and Energy Ueda Takayuki attend the Russian-Japanese forum Contact Points: Business, Investment, Culture.
Participating in organizing the forum required certain firmness and integrity from foreign colleagues, Naryshkin said. “We highly value their responsible stance,” he said.
