RUSSIAN Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied any territorial disputes with other countries as differences concerning the Northern Territories prevented Tokyo and Moscow from signing a postwar peace treaty.
Lavrov made the remarks in response to the allegations made by US President Joe Biden that Moscow may attack a NATO member country.
The Russian Foreign Minister denied the claim as nonsense and said that it was the West that broke off relations with Russia and made it their enemy.
Lavrov also suggested that Moscow will never discuss with Tokyo the issue of sovereignty over Russian-held islands off Hokkaido.
In March 2022, at the height of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it would stop talks to conclude a peace treaty with Japan after it imposed sanctions on Moscow.
The Northern Territories is a territorial dispute between Japan and Russia over the ownership of the four southernmost Kuril Islands. The former Soviet Union seized the four islands after Japan’s surrender in World War II but the Japanese government has claimed it as its own.
The decades-old dispute which can be traced as early as 1945 has prevented both countries from signing a post-war treaty.
The Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia also slammed Tokyo for its actions towards Moscow and said his country has no plans to continue talks for a potential treaty of friendship and cooperation with Japan.
