The Japanese government will continue to conduct active negotiations with Russia to conclude a peace treaty between the two countries, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi announced on Tuesday.
According to the minister, Japan wants to continue negotiations based on their position – solving the territorial issue and then concluding a peace treaty.
Moscow and Tokyo have been in talks for many decades to come up with a peace treaty following World War II. The disagreement over the rights to the southern part of the Kuril Islands remains the main obstacle to this. After the end of the war, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and a group of adjacent small uninhabited islands.