All the Kuril Islands are an integral part of Russia, Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov emphasized, commenting on the decision of the Japanese Foreign Ministry for the first time in 19 years to designate the South Kuril Islands as "occupied" by the Russian Federation in its report.

The Kremlin spokesman also stated that in the current situation it would not be easy to continue the discussion on a peace treaty with Tokyo.

“Obviously, now that Japan has become an unfriendly country and has joined a whole range of hostile actions against the Russian Federation, it is very, very difficult to talk about continuing the negotiation process,” Peskov said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan published an annual report on diplomacy - the so-called "Blue Book", in which it noted that "the issue of northern territories is of the greatest concern in Japanese-Russian relations."

This term in Tokyo refers to the southern part of the Kuril Islands.

“The Northern Territories are islands over which Japan has sovereignty and which are an integral part of Japanese territory, but are currently illegally occupied by Russia,” Japanese diplomats say.

The media of the Asian country drew attention to the fact that the wording of "occupation" was used by the Japanese Foreign Ministry for the first time in 19 years - the last time it was mentioned in the "Blue Book" in 2003.

End of negotiations

Recall, on March 21, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Moscow was withdrawing from negotiations on a peace agreement with Japan.

The ministry noted that it was also decided to stop visa-free trips for Japanese citizens to the Kuriles on the basis of agreements from 1991 and to make it as easy as possible for former Japanese residents of the South Kuriles to visit their places of residence from 1999.

In addition, Moscow withdrew from the dialogue with Japan on the establishment of joint economic activities in the South Kuriles.

The Foreign Ministry explained that such a decision was made taking into account the "obvious unfriendly nature" of the unilateral restrictions imposed by Japan against the Russian Federation in connection with the situation in Ukraine.

“The Russian side under the current conditions does not intend to continue negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty due to the impossibility of discussing the signing of a fundamental document on bilateral relations with a state that takes openly unfriendly positions and seeks to harm the interests of our country,” the Foreign Ministry said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also added that all responsibility for the damage to bilateral cooperation and the interests of Japan itself lies with the official Tokyo, "consciously opting for an anti-Russian course instead of developing mutually beneficial cooperation and good neighborliness."

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, commenting on this decision by Russia, called it unacceptable and unjustified.

Tokyo sent an official protest to Moscow, and Ambassador Mikhail Galuzin was summoned to the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Japan has previously joined a group of Western countries that have imposed extensive economic sanctions against the Russian Federation after the start of a military special operation in Ukraine.

So, on February 25, Prime Minister Kishida, after a meeting of the leaders of the G7 countries, announced that the Japanese authorities would freeze assets and suspend the issuance of visas to Russian individuals and organizations.

In addition, Tokyo initiated extensive restrictions aimed at Russian financial institutions.

Japan also imposed restrictions on 300 types of Russian goods and technologies: semiconductors, equipment for maritime and aviation security, telecommunications equipment, communications equipment, military products, including weapons, software, oil refining equipment.

Such restrictions apply to 49 companies and organizations, including Rosoboronexport, Rostec, the FSB and the Foreign Intelligence Service.

  • Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida

  • AP

  • © Rodrigo Reyes Marin/Pool Photo

Since the beginning of April, the Japanese authorities have banned the export of luxury goods to Russia, including premium cars.

Tokyo also expanded the list of Russian citizens subject to an asset freeze and took additional measures to prevent possible attempts to circumvent sanctions.

In addition, on March 16, the Japanese government announced that, following the United States, Great Britain and the European Union, it would deprive Russia of the status of "most favored nation" in trade.

historical realities

Recall that the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin were officially annexed to the USSR on February 2, 1946.

This became possible after the successful military operations of the Soviet troops during the war with Japan in August-September 1945.

In 1951, Tokyo signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty, fixing the loss by the Japanese side of the rights to the Kuril Islands and parts of Sakhalin.

However, the Soviet Union decided not to sign this document, since it did not address the issue of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Japan.

In addition, it was not explained in whose favor Tokyo was giving up the island territories.

However, in 1956, the parties signed a declaration that provided for the gradual development of relations and the conclusion of a peace treaty.

A long discussion on the conclusion of this agreement between Moscow and Tokyo actually came to a standstill after the head of the Japanese government, Shinzo Abe, left his post in 2020.

As prime minister, Abe actively pushed for progress on this issue and, during his time in office, held more than 20 meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

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  • © Danil Godlevsky

According to Japanese media, under Abe, the country's authorities usually refrained from using the phrase "ancestral territories" and did not use the wording about the "occupation" of the South Kuriles.

Now, according to analysts, Japan is following in the wake of the American policy of increasing pressure on Russia, and this is precisely what its current rhetoric regarding the northern territories is connected with. 

“Japan's claim that these islands are an integral part of its territory raises huge doubts, since it has no basis.

The Japanese themselves abandoned the Kuril Islands following the results of World War II, ”Dmitry Mosyakov, head of the Center for Southeast Asia at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recalled in a comment to RT.

He drew attention to the fact that Japan's policy regarding the ownership of the Kuril Islands varies depending on the figure of the prime minister and the composition of the government.

“At first, one prime minister begins to negotiate in which it seemed possible to reach a compromise.

For example, two islands - Japan, two - Russia.

Then it turns out that this does not suit the Japanese, and everything starts all over again.

This schedule of fluctuations largely depends on external pressure on Tokyo regarding its policy on Russia and the circumstances associated with the internal political struggle in Japan,” Mosyakov explained.

The Asian monarchy, taking this opportunity, is trying to rethink the historical context of the issue of ownership of the Kuril Islands in such a way as to change its negotiating position, said Oleg Kazakov, senior researcher at the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of the Far East of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“Japan has interpreted certain historical facts appropriately, and this reasoning is not new.

The innovation here lies only in the chosen moment.

The active interaction between Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe did not lead to the desired result by Japan, and, perhaps, this caused some disappointment in the country.

And recent world events have further pushed Tokyo to cooperate with the United States and the G7, where states with an anti-Russian orientation predominate, ”the analyst said in an interview with RT.

As a result, Kazakov stated, the Japanese side decided to stop trying to cooperate with Russia on a peace treaty.

“This will negatively affect Russian-Japanese relations, which are likely to deteriorate further.

It can be expected that Tokyo will insist on its position and end up in a cold war with Moscow.

And these contradictions are unlikely to be resolved in the near future,” Kazakov concluded.