“A difficult situation has developed in Japanese-Russian relations, but we continue to strive to resolve the territorial issue and conclude a peace treaty,” RIA Novosti quotes him.
According to the politician, Tokyo will continue to promote sanctions pressure against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine and will provide support to Kyiv.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov previously gave an interview in which he said that Russia does not have any territorial disputes with NATO countries - including with Japan, all issues are closed.
Russian authorities have repeatedly spoken about the indisputability of Russian sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. As noted in the Kremlin, there are currently no prospects for negotiations on a peace treaty with Japan. According to Dmitry Peskov, Japan has actively joined the camp of unfriendly states.
At the same time, the Japanese side in Japan’s Blue Book on Diplomacy for 2023 used the wording about “illegal occupation of the northern territories.” In Moscow, in response to this, they recalled that Russia does not accept such a formulation of the question and such formulations, because the Kuril Islands are an integral part of the Russian Federation.