Tokyo Japan January 17 ANI Sputnik The Japanese government intends to continue negotiations with Russia to resolve the territorial issue and conclude a peace treaty, as well as to strengthen relations with Moscow, including cooperation in the energy sector, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said on Monday.
In order to meet the national interests, we intend to develop relations between Japan and Russia, including the energy sector, Kishida said at a meeting of the lower house of parliament.
Relations between Russia and Japan have been complicated due to the fact that they have never signed a peace treaty after World War II. The main block is their dispute over a group of four islands called Kurils by Russia and the Northern Territories by Japan.
In 2018, Japan and Russia agreed to speed up the negotiations on the peace treaty, based on the Joint Declaration of 1956 between Japan and Russia.