Russia has declared that no peace treaty negotiations with Japan are currently underway, effectively ending decades of intermittent dialogue over the disputed Kuril Islands, according to The Japan Times.
The announcement from Moscow's Foreign Ministry marks the formal termination of a process that has dragged on for more than 75 years without resolution, leaving Russia and Japan technically still at war since World War II ended without a peace treaty between them.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that "there is no dialogue on a peace treaty with Japan at present and there are no prospects for such dialogue." The blunt declaration follows years of deteriorating relations between Moscow and Tokyo since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
To understand today's headlines, we must look at yesterday's decisions. The territorial dispute centers on four islands—Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai islet group—that the Soviet Union seized in the final days of World War II. Japan has consistently demanded their return as a precondition for signing a formal peace treaty, while Russia considers the matter legally settled by the war's outcome.
The islands, which Japan calls the Northern Territories and Russia refers to as the South Kurils, are located northeast of Hokkaido and are home to approximately 20,000 Russian residents. The surrounding waters are rich fishing grounds and potentially contain valuable natural resources.
For decades, Japanese and Russian leaders engaged in periodic negotiations that occasionally showed promise but never resulted in breakthrough. The closest the countries came to resolution was during the 1990s, when Russian President Boris Yeltsin appeared open to compromise, but domestic political constraints in both countries prevented an agreement.
Relations warmed slightly during the tenure of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who met with Russian President Vladimir Putin numerous times and pursued what he called a "new approach" to the territorial dispute. However, those efforts produced no concrete results and were ultimately overtaken by geopolitical events.
Japan's decision to join Western sanctions against Russia following the Ukraine invasion effectively ended any prospect of near-term progress. Moscow responded by withdrawing from peace treaty talks and terminating several bilateral agreements, including visa-free travel programs for former island residents.
"The bilateral relationship has reached its lowest point since the Cold War," said Dr. Dmitry Streltsov, a Japan expert at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations. "Under current circumstances, neither side sees any benefit in maintaining even the fiction of negotiations."
From Tokyo's perspective, Russia's actions in Ukraine—annexing territory by force and rejecting international legal norms—make negotiating over the Kuril Islands impossible. Japanese officials argue that rewarding Russian aggression with diplomatic engagement would set a dangerous precedent.
"We cannot conduct business as usual with a country that is violating the fundamental principles of international law," Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa said in parliamentary testimony this week.
Russia has responded by strengthening its military presence on the disputed islands, deploying new missile systems and conducting military exercises that Japanese officials view as provocative. Moscow has also sought closer cooperation with China, including joint naval patrols near Japanese waters—a development that alarms security planners in Tokyo.
The formal end of peace treaty dialogue removes whatever small restraint remained on Russian military activities in the region. Defense analysts expect Moscow to continue fortifying the islands as part of its broader strategy to project power in the Pacific.
For ordinary Japanese citizens, particularly those with family ties to the islands, the news represents the end of long-held hopes for resolution. Thousands of Japanese were expelled from the territories after World War II, and their descendants have maintained cultural organizations dedicated to preserving memories of their homeland.
"My grandmother never stopped hoping she would return before she died," said Hiroshi Nemuro, whose family was displaced from Kunashiri. "Now I suppose we must accept that this wound will not heal in my lifetime either."
