The Japanese government intends to conduct negotiations with Russia to sign a peace treaty after resolving the territorial issue, this stance has remained unchanged, TASS reported citing a source in the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
"We are determined to continue intense negotiations in accordance with our policy, which is aimed at signing a peace treaty, while resolving the issue of the ownership of four northern islands (that’s what Japan calls Russia’s southern Kuril Islands - TASS). Our stance on that score has remained unchanged," the source noted.