Hirokazu Matsuno, Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary, said on Monday that Russia's unwillingness to hold intergovernmental talks on marine fishing in the southern Kuril Islands was "unacceptable."

"We cannot accept the response by Russia. But we continue to urge Russia to come back to the negotiating table with us," Matsuno said during a press conference. 

Earlier, a lawmaker Takako Suzuki from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party likened the issue of marine fishing in the Kuril Islands to "a matter of life and death for Japanese fishermen." 

The big picture

Moscow informed Tokyo, on Sunday, that, due to anti-Russian measures taken by the Japanese government, Russia cannot agree on the holding of intergovernmental consultations on marine fishing cooperation in the area of the Southern Kuril Islands.

The Ministry indicated that relations between Russia and Japan have been deteriorating since the start of the war in Ukraine and that the Japanese government has been introducing sanctions against Russia in violation of international law.

Last week, Japan's Prime Minister said Tokyo will keep following its policy that aims at solving its territorial dispute with Moscow over the Kuril Islands and signing a peace treaty.

The Japanese Embassy in Moscow also told Sputnik that Japan continues to insist on holding talks with Russia on allowing Japanese boats to fish off the Kuril Islands after receiving a notification that Moscow cannot set the dates for consultations on the relevant agreement suspended by the Russian authorities in 2022.

In June 2022, Russia suspended the 1998 agreement on fishing with Japan after the latter stopped fulfilling its financial obligations under the deal. The Japanese government said it regretted Russia's decision and would like to continue consultations.

In March 2022, Russia withdrew from talks with Japan on signing a post-World War II peace treaty and halted visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the southern Kuril Islands and joint economic activities on the disputed islands. The move was due to Tokyo's "unfriendly" steps over the Ukrainian conflict, Moscow said. And in a first since 2003, Japan described in April the Kuril Islands - known in Japan as the Northern Territories - as the area "illegally occupied" by Russia in its Diplomatic Bluebook. 

Russia and Japan have been locked in a dispute over the four southernmost Kuril Islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai), since the two countries never signed a permanent peace treaty following World War II.

Japan has refused to give up its sovereignty claims to the four islands, which it refers to as its Northern Territories. While Japan protests the visit of Russian officials to the islands, Russia fears the placement of US bases and missiles on the islands if they were to be handed to Tokyo.

Read more: Russia, Japan will never achieve consensus on Kuril Islands: Medvedev