<span style="color: #222222;">Russia's foreign minister Serge Lavrov said that the US-Japan security alliance poses a problem for Russia-Japan relations and complicates peace treaty talks. </span><br />'' <br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Mr Lavrov said today that implementation of the 1956 Soviet-Japanese Declaration, which outlined conditions for a peace treaty, was not possible with the US military presence in Japan. He said, the Japanese government has promised to address Russia's concerns.<br />'' <br />'' The two countries have been struggling to negotiate a peace treaty after World War II because of a territorial dispute.<br />'' <br />'' The Soviet Union took the four southernmost Kuril Islands during the final days of the war.<br />'' <br />'' Japan asserts territorial rights to the islands and the dispute has kept the countries from signing a peace treaty.</span><br />''