November 10 (Reuters) – Russia has suspended a cooperation agreement with Japan on the dismantling of Russian nuclear weapons, according to a government document released on Thursday evening.
This document, published on the official online portal of the Russian government, indicates that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree on Tuesday suspending the 1993 agreement.
The document does not indicate the reason for this decision, but specifies that the Russian Foreign Ministry will inform Japan.
Relations between the two countries have deteriorated since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and after Japan joined other Western nations in imposing sanctions on Moscow.
In 1993, Russia agreed that its Pacific Fleet, based in Vladivostok, would stop dumping liquid radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan, in exchange for help processing the waste for burial underground.
Under the suspended deal with Japan, Tokyo helped decommission weapons, including the dismantling of nuclear submarines.
Japanese media, however, have reported that work has stalled as Moscow has stopped sending the necessary data to Tokyo. (Reporting Andrew Osborn, French version Augustin Turpin, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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