据当地媒体报道，日本周一在迎来双边联合宣言发表70周年之际表示，由于一组争议岛屿问题导致双边关系处于“困难状态”，日本承诺将继续与俄罗斯进行“必要沟通”。
Japan vowed to pursue “necessary communication” with Russia on Monday amid a “difficult state” of bilateral relations over a group of disputed islets as the two sides mark 70 years sinceg a joint declaration, according to local media.
据共同社报道，日本政府发言人木原稔在东京对记者表示：“即便在日俄关系的困难状态下，我们也将继续与俄方进行必要的沟通，并努力打破当前的僵局。”自2022年2月俄乌战争爆发以来，双边关系已经恶化。日本一直与西方盟友保持一致，对俄罗斯实施制裁。
“Even amid the difficult state of Japan-Russia relations, we will continue the necessary communication with the Russian side and work toward breaking the current deadlock," Japanese government spokesperson Minoru Kihara told reporters in Tokyo, Kyodo News reported. Bilateral ties have worsened since the start of the Russia-Ukraine war in February 2022. Japan has aligned with its Western allies in imposing sanctions on Russia.
二战后，两国于1956年10月19日签署协议实现关系正常化，同时双方围绕日本北海道岛外的一组岛屿——色丹岛和齿舞群岛——长期存在领土争议。日本称这些岛屿为北方领土，而俄罗斯则称之为南千岛群岛。
After World War II, the two countries normalized ties with the Oct. 19, 1956 accord, while the two sides have a long-standing territorial dispute over a group of islands -- Shikotan and the Habomai -- off Japan’s Hokkaido Island. Japan identifies them as the Northern Territories, while Russia calls them Southern Kurils.
东京坚称，由择捉岛、国后岛、色丹岛和齿舞群岛组成的北方领土，在1945年8月15日日本在二战中投降后不久，被已解体的苏联“非法”占领。俄罗斯则辩称这一占领是合法的。
Tokyo maintains that the Northern Territories, consisting of Iturup, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai islet group, were "illegally" seized by the now-defunct Soviet Union soon after Japan's surrender in World War II on Aug. 15, 1945. Russia argues the seizure was legitimate.
自二战以来，这场争议一直阻碍两国签署和平条约，而近年来随着东京因俄乌战争对莫斯科实施制裁，紧张局势进一步加剧。
The dispute has prevented the two countries fromg a peace treaty since World War II, while tensions have deepened in recent years amid Tokyo's sanctions against Moscow over the Russia-Ukraine war.