The Japanese government is determined to conclude a peace treaty with Russia, despite the difficult situation in relations. This is stated in the annual report on diplomacy of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, entitled "Blue Book", published on Tuesday.
"The government will continue to adhere to the policy of resolving the issue of ownership of the four northern islands (b.r. - this is how Japan calls the Russian southern Kuril Islands) and concluding a peace treaty", the report notes.
It reiterates Tokyo's position that the southern Kuril Islands are "original Japanese territories under illegal occupation by Russia".
Japan considers the issue of resuming humanitarian exchanges with the southern Kuril Islands, especially visits to the graves of ancestors of former Japanese residents of these territories, a priority.
Moscow and Tokyo have been negotiating since the middle of the last century with the aim of developing a peace agreement after World War II war.
The main obstacle to this remains disagreements over rights to the southern part of the Kuril Islands. After the war, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes its ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small uninhabited islands. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russian sovereignty over these territories, which has the appropriate international legal basis, is "unquestionable".
Russia has suspended negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty due to anti-Russian sanctions imposed by Tokyo in connection with the situation in Ukraine. In addition, Moscow withdrew from the dialogue with Tokyo on establishing joint economic activity in the southern Kuril Islands and blocked the expansion of Japan's status as a partner of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation for sectoral dialogue.
Russia also terminated the agreement with Japan on facilitated visits to the Kuril Islands by Japanese citizens - former residents of these islands, as well as the agreement on the procedure for mutual travel.
The visa-free exchange program was launched in 1992 on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement to improve mutual understanding between the peoples of the two countries. Since then, about 10 thousand residents of Iturup, Kunashir and Shikotan have visited Japan, and about 20 thousand Japanese have visited the southern Kuril Islands. In September 2017 Moscow and Tokyo, in accordance with a high-level agreement, organized the first charter flight to the southern islands of the Kuril archipelago for their former residents to visit the graves of their ancestors.