TOKYO, December 2. /TASS/. The Japanese government plans to talk to Russia about allowing former residents of the Southern Kuril Islands to return there to visit the graves of their relatives, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said during a meeting with representatives of the authorities of Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido in Tokyo.
"Russia and Japan have different problems at the moment," he said, according to the NHK. "However, visiting graves is a humanitarian issue, and we will hold negotiations about allowing such trips."
Earlier, during parliamentary debates, Ishiba reiterated the government's claims to the southern part of the Kurils, which Tokyo calls the "four northern islands." He stated that this remains a key issue in negotiations with Moscow. Ishiba also blamed Russia for the stalled talks.
In his address to parliament on November 29, the prime minister claimed that his government remains committed to "resolving the territorial dispute and signing a peace treaty" with Russia despite the current difficulties in bilateral relations.
Russia and Japan have been in talks on a post-WWII peace treaty since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block is ownership over the South Kuril Islands. After the end of WWII, all of the Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan laid claim to the Iturup, Kunashir, and Shikotan islands, as well as a number of uninhabited islands. Russia's Foreign Ministry has repeatedly said that Russia's sovereignty over these islands, already subject to international agreements, cannot be called into question. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in March 2022 that Moscow was cutting off talks on a peace treaty with Tokyo after it imposed unilateral sanctions on Russia over the situation in Ukraine. Thus, Russia halted peace treaty negotiations with Japan, along with dialogue on joint economic activities in the South Kuril Islands. In addition, Japanese residents who used to live there were banned from visiting.