Overview
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said relations with Japan have been reduced to zero and that there is no dialogue on a peace treaty.
- Peskov stated a peace agreement is unattainable without a change in the nature of bilateral relations.
- He asserted Russia did not seek to end talks and claimed the initiative to halt dialogue came from Tokyo’s unfriendly stance.
- Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said Japan’s position remains to resolve the territorial issue and conclude a peace treaty, while criticizing Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
- The unresolved sovereignty dispute over the southern Kuril Islands remains the main barrier to a WWII peace treaty, with talks suspended since Russia’s 2022 pullback and Moscow asserting its sovereignty under international law.