The Russian Foreign Ministry announced on the 7th that it would suspend the implementation of the agreement between Russia and Japan on cooperation in the field of marine biological resources fishing until Japan fulfilled all its financial obligations. After the suspension of the agreement, Japanese fishermen were prohibited from fishing in the waters near Russia's South Kuril Islands (known as the four northern islands in Japan). On the same day, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman zaharova said that in 1998, Russia and Japan signed an intergovernmental agreement on several issues of cooperation in the field of marine biological resources fishing. Russia has always regarded interaction based on the agreement as one of the important directions of bilateral fisheries cooperation. The agreement, based on the consideration of the balance of interests between the two countries, allows Japanese fishermen to fish in the waters near the South Kuril Islands according to the quotas set by Russia. Zaharova said that the Japanese side "frozen" the accounts payable under the agreement and postponed the signing of relevant documents on providing free technical assistance to Sakhalin state of Russia, which are an integral part of ensuring the effective operation of the Russia Japan intergovernmental agreement. Under the current situation, Russia was forced to make a decision to suspend the implementation of the agreement until Japan fulfilled all its financial obligations. (Xinhua News Agency)