Mr. Medvedev stated the conditions for Russia to sign a peace treaty with Japan.

Mr Medvedev said Japan would have to give up territorial claims to a group of disputed islands if it wanted to sign a peace treaty with Russia.

"Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida once again voiced his support for concluding a peace treaty with Russia," Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said on January 30. "This is certainly conditional on discussing the Kuril Islands and maintaining sanctions."

According to Mr. Medvedev, no one would oppose the peace treaty if it was understood that "the territorial issue has been permanently closed under the Russian constitution, the Kuril Islands will continue to develop and their strategic role will increase, including the deployment of new weapons there."

"We do not care about the feelings of the Japanese people about the so-called Northern Territories. This is not a disputed territory, it is Russia's," Mr. Medvedev declared.

Shikotan Island in the Kuril Islands/Northern Territories. Photo: RIA Novosti — Shikotan Island in the Kuril Islands/Northern Territories. Photo: *RIA Novosti*

Earlier the same day, in a speech before a plenary session of the Japanese lower house, Prime Minister Kishida affirmed that the country "will actively promote sanctions against Russia and support for Ukraine".

"However, Japan remains firmly committed to the roadmap to resolve the territorial issue and sign a peace treaty," Mr. Kishida said.

The Soviet Union controlled the Kuril Islands before the end of World War II, which Japan claims and calls the area the Northern Territories. The territorial dispute prevented the Soviet Union and its successor, Russia, from signing a peace treaty with Japan to end World War II.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced in March 2022 that the country had no intention of negotiating a peace treaty with Japan because "it is impossible to discuss a document that is fundamental to bilateral relations while a country openly demonstrates bad faith and seeks to harm the interests of our country."

The agency said Russia suspended negotiations on economic cooperation projects with Japan on the Kuril Islands/Northern Territories, ending visa-free travel for Japanese citizens. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the decision was made after "Japan imposed unilateral restrictions on Russia related to the Ukraine issue".

After the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in February 2022, Japan imposed a series of sanctions against Russia, such as freezing the accounts of a number of Russian individuals, banning the issuance of Russian bonds in Japan, and restricting Russian citizens from traveling to the country.