Saint-Petersburg. June 4. INTERFAX-When discussing the issue of the Kuril Islands with Japan, it is necessary to take into account the changes in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, but the dialogue on a peace treaty should continue, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Yes, we have made changes to the Constitution, of course, we should take this into account, but I do not believe that we should suspend the conversation on the peace treaty," he said during a meeting with the heads of international news agencies at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum via video link.
At the same time, Putin recalled that "the Japanese position has changed very often, since 1956, where it was about two islands."
"Then, on the Japanese initiative, we stopped talking about this part of the Kuril Ridge altogether. Then we resumed (the dialogue-IF) at the request of the Japanese side, it was about two islands. After that, the Japanese position changed again, and we were already talking about four islands, " he continued.
Putin stressed that " Russia and the Soviet Union never agreed with this."
He also drew attention to the fact that at one time Russia raised a number of issues with Japan, including those related to security.
"We were very interested in how we would solve these issues, bearing in mind the plans of your allies to deploy modern strike missile systems on the territory of Japan, and we always had the question whether these missile systems would be at a distance that would threaten the Russian Federation," Putin explained.
