The Foreign Ministers of Russia and Japan held telephone talks and discussed the belonging of the Kuriles , during which they discussed a peace treaty regarding the ownership of the Kuril Islands. TASS writes about this.
The parties “confirmed their intention to continue the dialogue” in order to conclude peace. “The ministers exchanged views, stressing the intention to develop Japanese-Russian relations in many areas, including in the field of politics, culture and so on, as well as in the direction of concluding a peace treaty,” the agency quotes the press service of the Japanese minister.
Due to a dispute over the ownership of the southern part of the Kuriles, Moscow and Tokyo cannot sign a peace treaty following World War II. Japan regards Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands as their “northern territories”. In turn, Russia does not recognize the very fact of the territorial dispute.