"Calls into question the outcome of World War II": the Foreign Ministry reacted to the mention of the Kuriles in the US State Department's rules on green cards

The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the US State Department is questioning the results of World War II and encouraging revanchism.

Thus, the department commented on the rules for drawing green cards, which are published on the website of the Bureau of Consular Affairs of the State Department, which states that the United States considers citizens born in the South Kuriles to be natives of Japan.

The corresponding post was published by the Russian Foreign Ministry on its official Telegram channel.

“Need more proof that the US is a revisionist power?

By the decision of 1945, the Kuril Islands were ceded to the USSR.

Today, the State Department questions the results of World War II and encourages revanchism.

Know your boundaries and red lines, ”the ministry said.

The Foreign Ministry accompanied the publication with a copy of the agreement on the transfer of the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union, signed during the Yalta Conference in February 1945.

The Japanese newspaper Hokkaido Shimbun drew attention to the rules of the lottery for obtaining green cards.

The Bureau's website contains instructions for the DV-2021 Visa for Immigrants of Different Nationalities program, which explains the criteria that candidates must meet, as well as the application mechanism.

The instructions also contain a list of countries whose citizens are eligible to participate in the program.

The list includes, in particular, Russia and Japan.

“Applicants born on the islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup are considered Japanese.

Applicants born in the rest of Sakhalin (Southern Sakhalin) are considered to be natives of Russia, ”the document says.

First Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Dmitry Novikov, commenting on the position of the American side, drew attention to the fact that in this way the United States pursues its interests in the region, strengthening allied ties with Japan.

“Therefore, with such a policy towards the Kuriles, the United States pursues two tasks at once - to strike one more blow at the interests of Russia and simultaneously realize the interests of Japan, which is one of Washington's main allies in the Asia-Pacific region today.

So all this looks wild at first glance, but it fits well with the American approaches, "- quotes the deputy RIA Novosti.

• RIA News

• © Press Service of the Russian Foreign Ministry

The Russian authorities have repeatedly spoken about the indisputability of Russia's sovereignty over the Kuriles. 

So, in May 2020, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova, commenting on the decision of Tokyo to return the question of the Kuriles to the Blue Book on Diplomacy (an annual report on relations with other countries. -

noted that this contradicts the task of creating a favorable atmosphere in bilateral relations.

Zakharova made such a statement after Japan designated Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai as "islands subject to Japanese sovereignty." 

“We have to bring our colleagues from the Japanese Foreign Ministry back to reality.

And it is as follows: legal sovereignty over all the Kuril Islands belongs to the Russian Federation following the results of the Second World War in accordance with international legal documents, including the UN Charter, and is undeniable, ”she said.

Recall that Moscow's rights to the islands were enshrined in the 1945 Yalta Agreement.

By signing the Act of Unconditional Surrender in September 1945, Japan accepted the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, which implied the transfer of the islands to the Soviet Union.

At the same time, a peace treaty following the results of World War II between Japan and the USSR was not concluded.

In 1956, Tokyo and Moscow signed a declaration in which they expressed their readiness for the gradual development of relations and the conclusion of a peace treaty.

After Japan signed a document in 1960 giving the United States the right to establish and use military bases on its territory, the implementation of the 1956 declaration stalled.

For a long time, negotiations on the conclusion of a peace treaty were conducted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

In particular, Putin, speaking in September 2018 at a meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum, proposed to conclude a peace treaty without preconditions, and then continue to resolve all controversial issues, but Japan did not like this option.

Abe, who left the post of prime minister on September 16, 2020, later said that Japan and Russia were very close to concluding a peace treaty, but this was hampered by a number of factors, including problems in Russian-American relations.

In September, the new Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that he intends to continue the dialogue with Moscow on the issue of the ownership of the four Kuril Islands, which are part of Russia.