Japan’s anti-Russian approach makes an agreement on the Kuril Islands impossible.
According to Reuters, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko announced that with the current process that Tokyo has taken against Moscow, it is impossible to start any peace talks about the disputed islands between the two countries.
In this regard, he said: It is quite clear that with Japan’s unfriendly positions and direct threats against our country, it is impossible to discuss the signing of such a document (Peace Agreement on the Kuril Islands).
World War II hostilities between Russia and Japan have not officially ended yet, due to a dispute over the islands ceded to the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.
In the middle of September, the Russian government announced that in response to Japan’s support for Ukraine and Tokyo’s sanctions against Moscow, it has ended the previous agreement with Japan over the disputed islands.
According to an agreement signed between the two countries in 1999, former residents of the Kuril Islands and their family members could travel to these islands without obtaining a visa. The Russian government has now canceled this agreement.
After World War II, control of the Kuril Islands was ceded to the former Soviet Union, but the Japanese government has claimed ownership of the islands in recent years, saying “Russia has illegally occupied the islands.” Japan claims that the status of these islands should be determined by an international agreement and it should be known which country it belongs to. Currently, the two countries have conducted negotiations for joint economic cooperation in the region.
