Negotiations on a peace treaty with Japan, according to a Russian official, are impossible.

According to a senior member of the Russian foreign ministry, Japan's "anti-Russian course" renders negotiations for a peace treaty "difficult."
Because of their dispute over islands immediately off Japan's most northern island, Hokkaido, which were taken by the Soviet Union at the close of World War Two, Russia and Japan have not officially stopped hostilities. The islands are referred to as the Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.
According to deputy foreign minister Andrei Rudenko, "it is completely obvious that it is impossible to discuss the signing of such a document [a peace treaty] with a state that takes openly hostile views and permits itself to make direct threats against our country."
In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Japan placed broad sanctions on the country and recently made efforts to lessen its dependency on Russian coal and oil supplies.
