According to pro-Kremlin propaganda, if it refuses to negotiate with Russia, Ukraine could repeat the fate of Japan, which was attacked with atomic bombs in 1945.
NEWS: Ukrainian authorities must recognize the situation they are in, abandon the aggressive rhetoric and accept negotiations with Russia, so as not to repeat the fate of the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on which the US dropped atomic bombs in August 1945, at the end of World War II, argues the deputy in the upper house of the Japanese parliament, Muneo Suzuki.
"I don't want Ukraine to repeat the fate of Japan. Kyiv must understand the situation, refrain from inappropriate statements, and calmly and consistently accept the start of negotiations," he wrote on his blog. Suzuki criticized Volodymyr Zelensky, stressing that he "allows himself noisy statements," despite the fact that "Ukraine cannot win by its own forces."
The MP also compared the current situation in Ukraine to that of Japan at the end of World War II. "80 years ago, a group of Japanese military men urged the population to fight to the last soldier and throw women and children, armed with bamboo spears, into the war against the United States, which led to disastrous results," Suzuki wrote, according to TASS. Earlier, Russian leader Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said that the President of the Russian Federation was ready to resume the negotiation process with Ukraine without any preconditions.
NARRATIVES: 1. Ukraine should accept negotiations with Russia or suffer catastrophic consequences. 2. The Ukrainian leadership is irresponsible, as it refuses to accept the reality of its military inferiority. 3. Russia is open to negotiations without preconditions. 4. Ukraine is in the situation Japan was in 1945.
PURPOSE: To intimidate Ukraine and the international community through indirect nuclear threats; to undermine the Western support for Ukraine; to justify Russia's potential escalation of the war by shifting responsibility to Ukraine and its allies.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The comparison between the current situation of Ukraine and that of Japan in 1945 is fundamentally flawed and manipulative. Japan was an aggressor state that initiated the war in the Pacific, occupying territories in Asia, attacking the US at Pearl Harbor, and committing mass atrocities in China, Korea, and other Asian countries, while Ukraine is the victim of an unprovoked invasion by Russia. This false analogy reverses the roles of the aggressor and the victim in the current situation. In fact, today’s Russia can be compared to Japan eight decades ago, as both aggressed neighboring states under historical and ideological pretexts.
Imperialist Japan justified its invasions by claiming to liberate Asia from the Western colonialism . Similarly, Russia invokes narratives of the “Russian world” and the “denazification” of Ukraine to justify its aggression. Both regimes used discourses around the concept of historical destiny to mask imperialist ambitions and illegal territorial annexations. In 1945, the international community refused to accept Japan’s territorial conquests, just as it refuses to recognize Russia’s illegal annexations today.
Direct or indirect nuclear threats are contrary to international law. Under the UN Charter and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the threat of using nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear-weapon state constitutes a grave violation of international law. The International Court of Justice ruled in 1996 that the threat or use of nuclear weapons would generally be contrary to international humanitarian law.
Japanese MP Muneo Suzuki does not represent the official position of Japan. Suzuki has a controversial past, being known for his pro-Russian positions. He has campaigned for friendly relations with Moscow and has business ties with some regions in eastern Russia . The Japanese government, through the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, has repeatedly condemned the Russian aggression and has provided consistent support to Ukraine, including a 5.5 billion-dollar package. Therefore, the Russian media manipulates the public opinion through headlines that create a false synonymy between the opinion of a pro-Russian MP and the position of Japan as a state.
Russia is not open to negotiations without preconditions. Volodymyr Zelensky has responded positively to President Donald Trump’s proposal for an unconditional 30-day ceasefire, while Vladimir Putin has explicitly imposed conditions for negotiations, including the recognition of the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions (Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson) and Crimea, as well as Ukraine’s abandonment of its aspirations to join NATO. These conditions amount to a capitulation and cession of territory, not negotiations that would ensure a lasting peace. The narrative about the irresponsibility of the Ukrainian leadership ignores the fact that, according to polls, over 80% of the Ukrainian population is against ceding territories to Russia. The decision to resist the aggression is based on the right to self-determination and self-defense guaranteed by international law. No one is forcing Ukraine to fight “to the last Ukrainian,” and Western aid is provided at Kyiv’s request.
CONTEXT: Muneo Suzuki is a Japanese politician with a controversial career. He was convicted for corruption and is known for his pro-Russian positions, atypical in the Japanese political context. His views do not reflect the official position of Japan or the Japanese parliament. Tokyo has strongly condemned the Russian aggression and imposed severe sanctions against Moscow. In 2022, Suzuki stated in an interview with the Russian state agency RIA Novosti that Ukraine was to blame for the outbreak of the war, citing its failure to comply with the Minsk Agreements. In a previous article published in Yahoo News Japan, he suggested that if Ukraine could not fight without Western help, an “honorable surrender” would be an option to save lives — a statement that drew harsh criticism in Japan.
The Kremlin uses veiled nuclear threats as a tool of intimidation. Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, senior Russian officials have repeatedly hinted at the possibility of using nuclear weapons. These threats have been condemned by the international community. The increase in the number of inferred nuclear threats is part of a broader information warfare strategy aimed at weakening Western support for Ukraine and forcing territorial concessions. It is worth noting that EADaily is part of the Russian state-controlled media ecosystem, designed to disseminate propaganda narratives that serve the Kremlin’s interests.
