When asked by journalists to comment on an RBC report stating that the Kremlin refused to explore the possibility of handing over the Kuril Islands to Japan during the talks, Peskov said, "This is not about handing or not handing over the islands. The issue here is that painstaking work with (our) Japanese partners on signing a peace treaty is in progress. The issue is on the table, and the parties are working along these lines."

MOSCOW, March 12. /TASS/. Negotiations between Russia and Japan are focused on signing a peace treaty and not on the transfer of the southern Kuril Islands, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stressed.

In general, the reports on the Russian-Japanese talks are filled with rumors, the Kremlin spokesman went on to say. He stressed that these sorts of negotiations can carry on for years, and, as a rule, detailed information on them is not provided, and, most probably, it will not be provided in this case either.

"Everything that you read about Russian-Japanese relations and those issues that are currently on the table is rather a matter of expert reasoning. They [these media reports - TASS] often have nothing to do with the nature and content of the talks that are currently underway. There is a lot of guesswork there," he said.

Peskov recalled that, according to opinion polls, most Russians are opposed to the islands’ transfer to Japan, adding that this stance could not be ignored. He emphasized "the task of the experts [involved in the negotiation process] is to reach an agreement on signing a peace treaty."