MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Russia values the cooperation with Japan, and Moscow has a firm political will for development of good relations with Tokyo, even despite the complications regarding the peace treaty, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists Monday.
"You know that, for many years, President Putin has been exerting significant efforts to achieve this peace treaty. There are well-known hardships, complications on this track. Even despite their presence, there is a firm political will - on the Russian side, at least - to develop good relations with our eastern neighbor, Japan. We value our economic and investment cooperation and we expect it to continue," the spokesman said.
According to the spokesman, the peace treaty "provide closure" to many years of disagreements with Japan regarding the Southern Kuril Islands, but one should not formulate conditions for the treaty unambiguously.
"This is a very complex substance. But it is indeed necessary for further development of our bilateral relations," Peskov explained. "The Russian position was repeatedly relayed to our Japanese colleagues during the complicated talks at various levels, including the highest one, and this work will continue."
Moscow and Tokyo have been engaging in consultations on the World War II peace treaty for decades. The disagreements regarding the sovereignty of the Southern Kuril Islands remain the main obstacle. The entire archipelago became part of the Soviet Union after the war, but Japan challenges the sovereignty of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and a group of lesser islands known as Habomai. Tokyo frequently expresses its protests over Russia’s activities in the Southern Kurils, which Moscow keeps rejecting. Russian Foreign Ministry repeatedly stated that the Russian sovereignty of the archipelago is cemented in the international law and could not be challenged.
On Monday, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin started a working trip to the Far East and Siberia, which started with a visit to Iturup. Mishustin’s predecessor Dmitry Medvedev visited the Kuril Islands several times, both as the Prime Minister and as the President of Russia. He visited the Kurils for the first time in 2010. Prior to that, Russian leaders have never visited the archipelago.