At a briefing with journalists on Monday, Katsunobo Kato, the chief secretary of the country’s cabinet, suggested that the two countries could finally bury the hatchet in the decades-old territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands. “I think that the government will continue to be determined to negotiate in line with our main objective of resolving the issue and concluding a peace treaty,” he said.

The issue of sovereignty over four islands, located between Japan’s northernmost province of Hokkaido and the Russian Kamchatka Peninsula, has hampered the signing of a document that would formally end the hostilities of the Second World War. Moscow maintains that the territory was promised to the Soviet Union in exchange for its role in defeating Imperial Japan. Allied forces even provided ships and hardware to facilitate the invasion, and they have been administered as part of Russia since then.

Japan has continued to push its claim to the archipelago, arguing that the four southernmost islands were not actually included in the terms of the deal negotiated between the Allied powers. Last year, Russia amended its constitution to include a provision against handing over territory to foreign nations. In September, ex-President Dmitry Medvedev said that the new measures would prohibit a change of status for the Kurils. Kato said that negotiations could continue despite these reforms, but it is not clear whether Tokyo’s diplomats would countenance any deal that did not include the return of the islands.

However, in January, Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s new prime minister, hinted that his country could draw a line under the dispute as part of efforts to normalize relations with its neighbor. He said that the row “should not be passed on to future generations.” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also emphasized his hope that talks with “our Japanese friends” would lead to a lasting settlement.

RT NEWS