ST. PETERSBURG, December 13. /TASS/. The policy of Japan’s current authorities makes it impossible to resume peace treaty talks, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko said on Tuesday.

"The policy of Japan’s current government makes it impossible to resume not only peace treaty talks but also many other projects and agreements we had in mind, so to speak. So, we will wait until the situation changes and then we will think about what to do next," he said on the sidelines of the 13th Asian Conference of the Valdai international discussion club.

Commenting on Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plans to promote the anti-Russian sanctions within Japan’s presidency in the Group of Seven, Rudenko described the role Tokyo has opted for as "profoundly regrettable." "Regrettably, he many things we tried to build with that country from the point of view economic, humanitarian and other ties have been destroyed in recent years," he said.

"The Japanese government has actually sided with the US policy of isolating Russia," he said. "It looks like Japan is putting the cart before the horse."

Russia and Japan have been negotiating a peace treaty after World War II since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block to this is the issue of the ownership of the southern Kuril Islands. After the end of World War II, all Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan challenged the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and a number of uninhibited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge called the Habomai Islands in Japan.

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, however no peace treaty has been signed until now.