Russia expects to continue talks with Japan on concluding a permanent peace treaty in accordance with the Soviet-Japanese declaration of 1956, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a meeting with his Japanese counterpart Taro Kono on Saturday.
“We are holding this meeting in accordance with the agreement of the Russian president and the prime minister of Japan on the need to step up the work on a peace treaty in accordance with the declaration of 1956”, Lavrov said, adding that he expected “to continue the ongoing dialogue” with Kono “in strict compliance with the sequencing” defined by the Russian and Japanese leaders.
Russian-Japanese relations have long been complicated by the fact that the two nations never signed a permanent peace treaty after the end of World War II. The deal was never reached because of a disagreement over a group of four islands — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai — that are claimed by both countries.
They are collectively referred to as the Southern Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.