Moscow welcomes Tokyo’s intent to sign peace treaty – Kremlin

Bilateral dialogue between the two nations has been “virtually reduced to zero” because of Japan’s position, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

Moscow welcomes Tokyo’s desire to sign a peace treaty with Russia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday. His remarks followed a statement by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who told parliament that pursuing such an agreement is part of her government’s foreign policy agenda.

Japan and Russia have never formally formed a peace treaty following the end of World War II. The absence of a treaty stems from a long-standing dispute over the four southernmost islands of the Kuril archipelago, which were incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1945 as part of the postwar settlement. Tokyo, however, continues to lay claim to what it calls the ‘Northern Territories’.

“The Japanese government’s policy is to resolve the territorial issue and finalize the peace treaty,” Takaichi told the parliament.

The Kremlin responded by saying that “such statements are rather to be welcomed.” Moscow “also supports signing a peace treaty with Japan,” Peskov told journalists. He still pointed to what he called Tokyo’s “rather unfriendly stance” towards Moscow, adding that Japan joined “all the unlawful sanctions and restrictions against our country” imposed by the West.

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The dialogue between the two nations has also been “reduced virtually to zero” over the past years due to Tokyo’s actions, the spokesman stated.

The territorial dispute over the southern Kuril Islands has remained a major obstacle to better relations between Russia and Japan. Although Tokyo renounced its claims to the Kuril Islands under the 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty, it later contended that the disputed islands are not part of the Kuril archipelago. Russia, however, maintains that all four islands are part of its sovereign territory.

Japan has occasionally declared its intent to resolve the issue over the past years while maintaining tough rhetoric on Russia at the same time. In her Friday speech, Takaichi also referred to the nation as a source of “concern” and admitted the relations between the two nations are “in a difficult situation.”