evidence: January 2019 talks in Moscow [edit]The Japanese foreign minister Taro Kono visited Moscow and held talks on the Kuril Islands dispute with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov on January 14, 2019. At the conclusion of their meeting, Lavrov said that they agreed on wanting to increase ties between the two countries but serious differences remained between the Russian and Japanese positions on the issue. He also said that Japan must recognize them as sovereign Russian territory as a start. In a statement to reporters he had said "Russia's sovereignty over the islands isn't subject to discussion. They are part of the territory of the Russian Federation."[58][59] A couple days later on January 16, Lavrov questioned whether or not Japan has accepted the result of World War II.[60] [...] Ukraine's national parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on October 7, 2022, to recognize the Kuril Islands as integral Japanese territories, illegally occupied by the Russian Federation.[98] The same day President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree recognizing the Kuril Islands as territory of Japan temporarily occupied by Russia.[99] [...] - ^ censor.net (7 October 2022). "Рада визнала Курили окупованою Росією територією" [The Council recognized the Kuril Islands as territory occupied by Russia]. Telegram (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 7 October 2022.