TOKYO, October 23. /TASS/. The Japanese government will retain its course toward resolving the territorial issue and concluding a peace treaty with Russia despite current difficulties in Japanese-Russian relations, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in his keynote address at a plenary session of the parliament’s lower chamber.

"Japanese-Russian ties are in grave condition, however, we will continue the policy course directed at resolving the territorial issue and signing a peace treaty," he noted. The Japanese prime minister has also criticized Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

For decades, Moscow and Tokyo have been holding consultations in order to clinch a peace treaty as a follow-up to World War II. The southern Kuril Islands issue remains the key sticking point. In 1945, the whole archipelago was handed over to the Soviet Union. Tokyo laid claims to Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of uninhabited islands. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that Moscow’s sovereignty over the islands is enshrined in international law and cannot be called into question.

In March 2022, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow was terminating peace treaty talks with Tokyo due to the unilateral restrictions that Japan had imposed on Russia over the situation in Ukraine. Additionally, Russia withdrew from dialogue with Japan on joint economic activities on the southern Kuril Islands and blocked the extension of Japan’s status as a sectoral dialogue partner of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation.