At the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum Vladimir Putin offered to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to conclude a peace treaty “without preconditions” before the end of the year. This proposal seemed to look spontaneous, and so far no official answer came from the Japanese side.

If the signing of peace treaty really takes place, it would be an essential step towards the final normalization of bilateral relations between Russia and Japan, which for the rest are quite positive and promising. Describing the absence of the peace treaty, the leaders of both countries not incidentally call the situation “abnormal”. Potential benefits for both sides lie on the surface, and the long-standing territorial disputes between neighboring states obviously harm their national interests.

It’s profitable

The benefits are the following: improving the political climate, reducing mistrust and developing the legal framework for bilateral relations, which in turn can affect the development of mutually beneficial economic cooperation. In such strategically important region as Northeast Asia, and especially in the context of Russia’s turn to the East, it is very important now for Moscow not to put all the eggs in one basket.

Please click here to read the full “Peace treaty between Russia and Japan: Who benefits?” article published at Valdai Discussion Club written by Dr Nikolay Murashkin, Visiting Fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute.