China had apparently ditched its pro-Tokyo position to take a neutral stance in a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over four Moscow-controlled islands off Hokkaido by 1992, according to Japanese diplomatic records declassified in December.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida expresses wariness about recent joint Chinese and Russian bomber flights over waters near Japan, warning that his country is facing the toughest and most complex security environment in postwar times.
Russia announces the suspension of a cooperation agreement for the decommissioning of its nuclear weapons signed with Japan in 1993, amid the deterioration of bilateral relations following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Nikolay Nozdrev, a director in charge of Japan and other Asian countries at Russia's foreign ministry, is slated to become the next Russian ambassador to Japan, filling a post left vacant for a year amid sour bilateral relations, diplomatic sources say.
A Japanese opposition party decides to remove a lawmaker who has long championed close ties with Moscow for visiting Russia this month without giving prior notice, according to a party source.