Russia halts Japan peace treaty talks over sanctions

Russia and Japan have still not formally ended World War Two hostilities because of the standoff over the islands known in Russia as the Kurils and in Japan as the Northern Territories.

“Under the current conditions Russia does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, citing Japan’s “openly unfriendly positions and attempts to damage the interests of our country.”

Japan last week announced plans to revoke Russia’s most-favoured nation trade status, expand the scope of asset freezes against Russian elites and ban imports of certain products.

Last year, President Vladimir Putin said that both Tokyo and Moscow wanted good relations and said it was absurd they had not reached a peace agreement.

Russia has also withdrawn from talks with Japan about joint business projects on the Kuril islands and ended visa-free travel by Japanese citizens, the statement said.