MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/. Moscow plans to foster relations with Japan, but won’t take any steps that run counter to Russia’s Constitution, Russian President Vladimir Putin told a meeting with editors-in-chief of Russian media outlets, aired by the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Sunday.
"We want to develop ties with Japan and we will do this. But we won’t do anything that runs counter to the key law of the Russian Federation," the president said at a meeting broadcast in the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin TV program.
In reply to a question that one of Russian constitutional amendments implies a ban on the alienation of territory, Putin told reporters that it’s up to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to comment on further relations with Japan in the context of sovereignty of the Southern Kuril Islands.
"You should ask Lavrov this question. He will explain to you where there is delimitation and where is demarcation there," the president said.
Moscow and Tokyo have been in talks to sign a peace treaty since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block to achieving this is the ownership issue over the Southern Kuril Islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan. After the end of World War II, the Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan Islands and uninhabited islands called Habomai has been challenged by Japan. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that Russia’s sovereignty over these islands, which is committed to paper in international documents, cannot be called in question.