TOKYO, October 4. /TASS/. Japan maintains the course toward solving the territorial dispute and signing a peace treaty with Russia, despite difficulties in the Japanese-Russian relationship, Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said, delivering his first keynote speech in parliament.

"The Japan-Russia relations are in a difficult state, but our country will continue the course toward solving the territorial dispute and concluding a peace treaty," he said.

At the same time, Ishiba stressed, Japan will continue with its sanctions pressure on Russia and support to Ukraine.

Russia and Japan have been negotiating a peace treaty to mark the end of World War II since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block to this is the issue of jurisdiction over the southern Kuril Islands. After the end of World War II, all of the Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan challenged the ownership of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan and a number of uninhibited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge called the Habomai Islands in Japan. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that Russia’s sovereignty over these islands, which is enshrined in international documents, cannot be called into question.

Since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine, Japan has introduced several packages of anti-Russian sanctions, including on Russian individuals and legal entities. It has frozen the assets of a number of Russian banks and imposed export restrictions. In this light, Russia suspended peace treaty negotiations with Japan and halted dialogue on joint economic activity in the South Kuril Islands. Also, Moscow refused to extend partner status in the Black Sea Economic Cooperation to Tokyo.