"As far as the island issue is concerned, consultations are ongoing on the issue, they are difficult, there is no room for noise … This is very hard work which requires great patience," Peskov told reporters.
"You correctly characterized this as ‘information injections.’… There is nothing to comment on here," the spokesman said, commenting on these reports.
Peskov added that there were certain priorities among bilateral economic, trade and investment projects, and Moscow was committed to continue cooperation with Japan and develop trade and economic relations.
Japan and Russia never signed a permanent peace treaty after World War II due to a disagreement over four islands which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai. The disputed islands, located in the Sea of Okhotsk, were claimed by Soviet forces at the end of the war.
On October 16, 1956, Tokyo and Moscow signed the Soviet–Japanese Joint Declaration, which ended the state of war and provided for trade development, the resolution of the territorial dispute and the eventual signing of the peace treaty.
