Media reported on the Japanese Prime Minister's tougher rhetoric on the Kuril issue

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has returned to tough rhetoric on the issue of belonging of the Kuril Islands. This was reported by the Japanese edition of the Hokkaido Shimbun.

It is noted that the Prime Minister for the first time since 2019 reaffirmed the commitment to the course to resolve the issue of ownership of the islands and the conclusion of a peace treaty.

"We will firmly stick to the course of resolving the return of the four northern islands (the Japanese name for the disputed territories. - Ed.) and concluding a peace treaty [with Russia]," the newspaper quotes Ishiba's statement at the All-Japan Congress demanding the return of the northern territories on February 7.

On January 24, Japan's prime minister said that relations between Moscow and Tokyo are in a difficult state, but the island nation still supports the idea of resolving the "territorial issue" and concluding a peace treaty. The head of the Japanese government made the same statement in November 2024. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, for his part, noted on January 25 that Tokyo has a pronounced unfriendly stance toward Moscow.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on January 20 that the Russian Federation would consider whether relations with Japan could be restored if the latter backed up its initiatives with actions to renounce unfriendly steps. According to the ministry, the Russian Federation is guided by the presence of politicians in Japan who understand the harm of the anti-Russian course.

A peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo was never signed after the end of World War II, in which Japan was on the side of Germany. In 1956, Japan and the USSR signed a joint declaration under which Moscow agreed to consider the transfer of the Kuril islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Tokyo in the event of a peace agreement. At the same time, Japan itself did not renounce its claims to all the islands of the Kuril Ridge.

The countries failed to reach an understanding on this issue. The position of the Russian leadership is that Russia's sovereignty over the Khabomai and Shikotan islands is inviolable.