TOKYO, December 19. /TASS/. The Japanese government considers Russia's position that the "territorial dispute" over the southern part of the Kuril Islands has been settled as unfair and unacceptable, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, commenting on the words of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

"The territorial issue has not been resolved by Japan and Russia, and that is why there were talks on a peace treaty," he said, suggesting that the reason for the termination of talks on a peace treaty was not anti-Russian sanctions, but Moscow's actions against Kiev.

A month after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, "in March 2022, Russia unilaterally announced that it did not intend to continue talks on a peace treaty with Japan because of Japan's sanctions against Russia," Hayashi pointed out. "We consider Russia's position of trying to shift the blame to Japan to be extremely unfair. It is absolutely unacceptable," he said. The official said that bilateral relations were "in a difficult situation" and that nothing concrete could be said about consultations on the peace treaty. "The government will firmly adhere to its position on [the need to] resolve the territorial issue and conclude a peace treaty," he added.

Lavrov said in an interview with the Great Game program on Channel One the day before that Russia does not have any territorial disputes with other countries. "We have no territorial disputes with anyone else, including Japan. All territorial disputes have been settled, they understand this very well," he said.

Moscow and Tokyo have been in negotiations on a peace treaty based on the outcome of World War II since the mid-20th century. The main obstacle to such an accord remains the disagreement over rights to the southern part of the Kuril Islands. After the war, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes the ownership of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan, as well as several small uninhabited islands. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russia’s sovereignty over these islands is based on a firm legal foundation and is indisputable.

After the start of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine, Tokyo imposed several packages of sanctions on Moscow. In this regard, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced in March 2022 that Moscow would stop negotiating a peace treaty with Tokyo.