MOSCOW, November 5. /TASS/. Negotiations between Russia and Japan on a peace treaty might be possible after the conflict in Ukraine, Japan’s ambassador to Russia Akira Muto told the Shot Telegram channel.
Answering the question what was currently preventing the start of negotiations on the peace treaty, the ambassador pointed out that it was the conflict in Ukraine.
"As soon as everything is over, hopefully we will start negotiations [on a peace treaty]," he said, noting that the negotiations should be initiated by both sides.
Moscow and Tokyo have been holding talks since the middle of the last century with the aim to work out a peace agreement on the outcome of World War II. Disagreements over the southern part of the Kurils remain the main obstacle. After the end of the war, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes the sovereignty over Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small uninhabited islands. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that Russian sovereignty over these territories, which has the appropriate international legal framework, is beyond doubt.
After Tokyo imposed anti-Russian sanctions over the situation in Ukraine, Russia stopped consultations with Japan on a peace treaty. Moscow also withdrew from negotiations with Tokyo on the establishment of joint economic activities in the southern Kuril Islands and blocked the extension of Japan's status as a sectoral dialogue partner of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization.