Personal Relationship, Period

The face of Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, did not look excited in his press conference after the meeting with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, indicating the meeting was substantially businesslike. The announced outcome was that Putin officially accepted Abe’s invitation to Japan this fall. That’s it. There was no change in the basic structure that Japan mainly looked to territorial issue, while Russia wanted to focus on economic relationship.

Abe has been stressing that the bilateral relationship between Japan and Russia was very good. However, it is personal relationship of both leaders. In terms of diplomacy, good personal relationship of leaders means nothing, as long as it does not produce benefit in national interest.

In his policy speech to the Diet last month, Abe emphasized the necessity of connecting the personal credibility with Putin to some progress in the negotiation over the Northern Territory. At the Sochi meeting, actually the fifth meeting within a year with Putin, Abe once again reconfirmed the good relationship. “I want to step the credible relationship with Putin up to the next dimension,” told Abe in the press conference. That proved his failure in achieving it in Sochi.

In economy, Putin agreed on sending ministers and business leaders to the Japan-Russia Investment Forum in Tokyo this March. “We have a good environment to solve the most difficult problem,” Putin told Abe, raising increasing trade between the both nation. For Putin, appealing achievement in economy is necessary to persuade his nation about the issue of territory that is in fact under Russian administration.

However, environment of territory talk is far from something preferable to Japan. While both leader agreed on seeking acceptable solution for both last April, Russia kept on insisting that the islands had became Russian territory as a result of the Second World War. If Japan disputes that reasoning, there comes a criticism that it is committing revisionism against post-war regime. The world knows well that Abe is one of the most prominent revisionist leaders. In terms of national interest, Abe’s revisionism has nothing beneficial.

Personal relationship between leaders sometimes worked for bilateral benefits. Former Prime Minister, Yasuhiro Nakasone, enhanced Japan-U.S. relationship with the friendship with Ronald Reagan, called Ron-Yasu. In Boris-Ryu relationship, Boris Yeltsin wanted to have a final conclusion on the territorial issue while Ryutaro Hashimoto would be his counterpart. Personal relationship between Putin and Abe does not look like reaching the level of those former leaders.