Tokyo's unfriendly actions completely hinder negotiations on a peace treaty between Russia and Japan, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Earlier in the day, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said that despite the difficult relations between Japan and Russia, Tokyo still adheres to the course of resolving the territorial problem and concluding a peace treaty.
"As we know, Japan has fully sided with the unfriendly line of the countries of the collective West, joined all Western sanctions, introduced restrictions for our operators - all of these are unfriendly steps, which, of course, at the moment completely hinder any substantive negotiations on this matter," Peskov told journalists.
It was Japan, not Russia, that initiated the introduction of economic restrictions in bilateral relations, the official added.
"The problem of the peace treaty is a very complex issue in Russian - Japanese relations. Despite all its complexity, Moscow and Tokyo found the strength and political wisdom to engage in meaningful dialogue and negotiations in search of solutions," Peskov said.
Sputnik