OREANDA-NEWS Moscow will react harshly to any new confrontational attacks by Tokyo, the Russian Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti.

"The Russian Federation will continue to respond to any new confrontational attacks by the Japanese authorities with the toughest and most sensitive countermeasures for Japan, guided solely by its own national interests," the ministry stressed.

Commenting on recent statements by the country's leadership that Tokyo will continue to adhere to the course of resolving the territorial problem and concluding a peace treaty in relations with Moscow, the Foreign Ministry pointed out that "after the start of a special military operation in February 2022, the Japanese government is pursuing a frankly hostile course towards Russia."

"Packages of illegitimate sanctions are multiplying, Russophobic sentiments are being purposefully inflamed in Japanese society, joint military activity with the United States and NATO countries is increasing near the Far Eastern borders of our country, including with the development of the use of shock weapons, including nuclear weapons, direct logistical assistance is being provided to the Kiev regime," the ministry added.

The Foreign Ministry noted that in such circumstances, the Russian side sees no way to continue the dialogue with Tokyo that took place earlier on the conclusion of a fundamental document, the purpose of which was to lay the foundation for long-term good-neighborly relations."

Relations between Russia and Japan have been overshadowed for many years by the absence of a peace treaty. In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed a Joint Declaration in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring Habomai and Shikotan to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty, and the fate of Kunashir and Iturup was not touched upon. The USSR hoped that the Joint Declaration would put an end to the dispute, while Japan considered the document only part of the solution to the problem, without renouncing claims to all the islands.
Subsequent negotiations led to nothing, and a peace treaty was never signed after the end of World War II. Serious opposition arose from the United States, which threatened that if Japan agreed to transfer only two of the four islands to it, this would affect the process of returning Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty (the Agreement on the Return of Okinawa to Japan entered into force in 1972. — Ed.). Moscow's position is that the islands became part of the USSR following the Second World War and Russia's sovereignty over them is beyond doubt.