No official proposals from Japan on peace treaty, Kurils - Peskov
MOSCOW. Jan 21 (Interfax) - Russia has not received official proposals from Japan concerning the conclusion of a peace treaty and the Kuril Islands, so speculation will not help make the negotiating process successful, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.
"Nobody has proposed anything officially yet, and it is hardly appropriate to make any hypotheses here. They won't promote the success of the negotiations," Peskov told journalists when asked whether Russia would decline a proposal from Japan on ceding two of the four Kuril Islands to Tokyo in order to conclude a peace treaty.
He told journalists to wait for the talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
"We call on everyone to be realists and proceed from the principle that a solution should be looked for with the universal constant that the national interests of the two countries be honored. Nobody is going to retreat from their national interests," Peskov said.
Putin has repeatedly talked about priority questions which have yet to be answered, he said.