Russia-Japan relations have been reduced to zero with no dialog currently taking place between the two sides, due to Japan's "unfriendly" stance towards Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press briefing on Friday.
Peskov's remarks followed Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's policy address at the lower house of parliament earlier on Friday, in which she said that Japan intends to resolve the long-standing territorial issue and conclude a peace treaty with Russia despite the strained state of bilateral ties.
"Tokyo is taking an unfriendly stance toward our country. Under these circumstances, it's unlikely that any agreements can be reached without changing the modalities of our relations," Peskov said at the press briefing.
Speaking to the press on Feb 13, Russian Ambassador to Japan Nikolai Nozdrev said Japan's approach to handling relations with Russia is contradictory, erroneous, and impracticable.
Japan claims its willingness to conclude a peace treaty while simultaneously imposing sanctions on Russia, said the ambassador, who characterized bilateral relations as being at their lowest point in the post-war period.
Russia and Japan have yet to sign a peace treaty to formalize the end of World War II due to a territorial row over four small Pacific islands, known as the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
No Russia-Japan dialog as ties "reduced to zero": Kremlin
No Russia-Japan dialog as ties "reduced to zero": Kremlin
