ASSESSMENTS
Japan Wants Closer Relations With Russia. Good Luck With That.
May 25, 2018 | 08:30 GMT
![Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, third from right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin watch a judo performance in Tokyo on Dec. 16, 2016.](https://worldview.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/styles/2x1_full/public/abe-putin-display-GettyImages-630075698.jpg?itok=P5lqqnFp)
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin have met 20 times over the past six years, including in Tokyo in December 2016, where they watched a judo performance. Scandal has put Abe's political career in jeopardy, adding urgency to his bid to improve relations with Russia.
(TORU YAMANAKA - POOL/Getty Images)
Highlights
- The Japanese prime minister's political troubles will add urgency to his country's bid to improve relations with Russia and resolve their long-standing dispute over contested islands.
- But the ongoing standoff between Russia and the United States, lackluster Japanese investment in Russia and Moscow's concerns about sovereignty leave little room for a breakthrough that would move beyond the incremental progress of recent years.
- That said, Russia will maintain its outreach to Japan to gain leverage in the U.S. camp and in an effort to counterbalance China.
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