Nevertheless, according to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, there is now a "difficult situation" in relations between Tokyo and MoscowTOKYO, January 23.
/tass/. The Japanese Government, despite the difficult situation in relations between Tokyo and Moscow due to the situation around Ukraine, maintains its policy aimed at resolving the territorial issue and concluding a peace treaty. This was announced on Monday by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, delivering a keynote speech at a plenary session of the lower house of parliament.
"There is a difficult situation in Japanese-Russian relations due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine, but Japan will continue to adhere to its policy aimed at resolving the territorial issue and concluding a peace treaty," he said.
Moscow and Tokyo have been negotiating since the middle of the 20th century to work out a peace agreement following the Second World War. The main obstacle to this remains disagreements over the rights to the southern part of the Kuril Islands. After the end of the war, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small uninhabited islands. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Moscow's sovereignty over these territories, which has an appropriate international legal formalization, is beyond doubt.
In March 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow was terminating negotiations with Tokyo on a peace treaty due to Japan's unilateral restrictions on Russia in connection with the situation in Ukraine. Moscow also withdrew from the dialogue with Tokyo on establishing joint economic activities in the southern Kuril Islands and blocked the extension of Japan's status as a partner of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization for sectoral dialogue.
