Nikolai Nozdrev, director of the Asian Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, stressed that it is impossible to discuss a comprehensive treaty on relations, including peaceful ones, with Japan, which is clearly unfriendly to Russia.

He noted in an interview with the Russian Sputnik agency that the Russian side had previously held talks with Tokyo on a comprehensive document that meets modern realities and defines the main directions for the accelerated development of the entire range of Russian-Japanese relations. .

Earlier, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida noted that despite the difficult relationship with Russia over Ukraine, Japan is firmly committed to resolving the regional issue and concluding a peace treaty.

Japan claims the islands of Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup and Habomai, citing the 1855 Bilateral Treaty of Trade and Boundary. Tokyo made the return of the islands a condition for concluding a peace treaty with the Russian Federation, which was not signed after the end of World War II.

Moscow’s position is that these islands became part of the Soviet Union after the end of World War II, and the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over them is beyond doubt.