OREANDA-NEWS  The Japanese government will maintain its course towards concluding a peace treaty with Russia and resolving existing territorial problems, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. He raised this topic during his keynote speech at the plenary session of the lower house of Parliament.

"Japanese-Russian relations are in a difficult state, but we will continue our policy aimed at solving the territorial problem and signing a peace treaty," Mr. Kishida promised. As TASS clarifies, in his entire speech this was the only mention of Japan's relations with the Russian Federation.

After the Japanese authorities joined the anti-Russian sanctions, the Russian Federation in March 2022 refused to negotiate the status of the Kuril Islands and the conclusion of a peace treaty, and also canceled the visa-free regime for Japanese in the Kuril Islands. Last year, Japan also designated the Southern Kuriles as "illegally occupied" for the first time since 2003. In October, the media wrote that Japan had not agreed with Russia to catch fish from the south of the Kuriles.