Japan expects peace treaty talks to continue following Russian cabinet’s resignation

TOKYO, January 16. /TASS/. The Japanese government will not comment on the Russian cabinet’s resignation but will keep an eye on the situation in a hope to continue peace treaty talks, a Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesperson told TASS on Thursday. "This is Russia’s domestic issue so the Japanese government won’t comment on it. Nevertheless, we would like to keep monitoring the situation. In any case, we will continue persistent talks in accordance with our fundamental policy aimed at resolving the territorial issue and singing a peace treaty," the spokesperson said. The Russian government led by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev resigned after President Vladimir Putin had delivered his State of the Nation Address to the Federal Assembly on Wednesday. Medvedev pointed out that he considered it the right thing to do in light of the constitutional amendments proposed by the head of state. Putin accepted the cabinet’s resignation and nominated Federal Tax Service chief Mikhail Mishustin to be the country’s next prime minister. Peace treaty issue Since the mid-20th century, Russia and Japan have been holding consultations in order to clinch a peace treaty as a follow-up to World War II. The Kuril Islands issue remains the sticking point since after WWII the islands were handed over to the Soviet Union while Japan laid claims to the four southern islands. In 1956, the two countries signed a joint declaration on ending the state of war and restoring diplomatic and all other relations, however, a peace treaty has still not been reached. Moscow has stated many times that Russia’s sovereignty over the islands cannot be called into question. Read more