Japan’s PM Says Unsettled Peace Treaty with Russia Remains Major Concern
Japan and Russia never finalized a post-war peace agreement, remaining entangled in a decades-long disagreement over the four southernmost islands of the Kuril archipelago. These islands were annexed by the Soviet Union in 1945, with Russia maintaining that they are part of its territory, while Japan continues to claim them as the “Northern Territories.”
Speaking at a rally commemorating Northern Territories Day on Saturday, Takaichi stressed the importance of addressing the dispute:
“It is really vexing and regrettable that a peace treaty between Japan and Russia has not been concluded and that the Northern Territories issue has not been resolved although 80 years have passed since the war ended.”
She also highlighted the revival of a program allowing visits by former Japanese residents of the islands and their families as “one of the top priorities in the Japan-Russia relationship.”
Relations between Tokyo and Moscow, already complex, worsened following the Ukraine conflict. Japan sided with Western nations by imposing sanctions on Russia, prompting Moscow to suspend peace negotiations and cancel visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the disputed islands in 2022, citing Japan’s “clearly unfriendly position.”
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