Japan assessed the prospects for concluding a peace treaty with Russia

Tokyo still adheres to the course of solving the problem of “northern territories” and concluding a peace treaty with Russia. This was stated by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

“Japan considers unacceptable attempts to change the status quo by force unilaterally, wherever they occur, and is in close cooperation with the G7 countries and the world community,” he noted.

According to Kishida, relations between Moscow and Tokyo are now in a difficult state, so it is not worth talking about the prospects for a peace treaty. At the same time, the Japanese government expressed its readiness to solve problems with the islands of Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup and Khabomai, as well as to conclude a peace treaty with Russia.

On September 5, it was reported that Russia terminated the agreement with the Japanese side on facilitated visits to the islands of Kunashir, Iturup and the Lesser Kuril ridge by Japanese citizens who lived on these islands.

Russia and Japan have been negotiating since the middle of the 20th century with the aim of working out a peace agreement following the results of the Second World War. The main obstacle to this remains the disagreement over the rights to the southern part of the Kuriles. After the end of the war, the entire archipelago was included in the Soviet Union, but the Japanese dispute the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small uninhabited islands. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that Moscow’s sovereignty over these territories is beyond doubt.