As long as Japan maintains its anti-Russia stance, negotiations on a peace treaty between the two countries can not be held, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said.
"They can talk about what they want until the cows come home. No talks are being held now. And there won’t be any until Japan changes its policy toward Russia," he said in reply to a TASS question.
The Japanese foreign ministry said earlier that the country’s government is determined to sign a peace treaty with Russia, despite their strained bilateral relations. Commenting on this statement, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov noted that as Japan continues to take an openly hostile stance against Russia, no peace treaty talks are possible.
Russia and Japan have been negotiating a post-World War II peace treaty since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block is the issue of who owns the South Kuril Islands. After the end of World War II, all Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan claimed the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and a number of uninhabited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge called the Habomai Islands in Japan as its own.
In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a joint declaration on ceasing the state of war. The two countries resumed diplomatic and other relations, but have still not signed a peace treaty.
The Russian foreign ministry has repeatedly said that Russia’s sovereignty over the Kuril Islands is not up for debate, as international agreements stipulate that they belong to Russia.
Moscow halted peace treaty talks with Tokyo after it imposed unilateral sanctions on Russia over the situation in Ukraine.
