Senior Russian security official Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that Moscow will deploy new weapons on the Kuril Islands which are at the center of a territorial dispute with Japan, the state news agency TASS reported.

Russia and Japan have never signed a peace treaty formally ending the conflict between them that dates back to World War II, with the Kuril Islands – which Japan calls the Northern Territories – remaining the primary stumbling block between the two sides.

TASS cited Medvedev as saying Russia was not against signing a peace treaty with Japan, but only if Tokyo no longer disputed the islands' status.