Harada step to down as ambassador for Russia

March 24, 2017

TOKYO- The Japanese government decided at a cabinet meeting Friday that Chikahito Harada will step down as ambassador for Japan-Russia relations in charge of bilateral World War II peace treaty negotiations, effective the same day.

In January last year, the government named Harada, former director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s European Affairs Bureau and former ambassador to Russia, as ambassador for Japan-Russia relations.

But Harada is said to have had disagreements with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the peace treaty negotiations with Russia.

Deputy Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba is currently in charge of Japan-Russia negotiations on joint economic activities on four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands at the center of a longstanding territorial dispute. Jiji Press