Japan wanted to achieve a final decision on the ownership of the Kuril Islands with Russia. This was stated by the Secretary General of the Japanese Cabinet of Ministers Katsunobu Kato, quoted by RIA Novosti.
“I think that the government will continue to be disposed towards persistent negotiations in accordance with our main course towards solving the territorial issue and concluding a peace treaty,” he stressed. Kato stressed that this will happen even despite the amendments to the Russian Constitution, excluding the alienation of territories.
The Secretary General recalled that in September 2020, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, during a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, confirmed his readiness to speed up negotiations on the Kuril Islands.
In early February, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga promised to move forward in resolving the dispute with Russia over the Kuril Islands. According to him, in the new negotiations, all agreements reached between the two states on the disputed territories by the Japanese side will be observed. Suga stressed that he will do his best to get things going.
As a result of the Second World War, a peace treaty was not concluded between Moscow and Tokyo. The main obstacle to its signing was the unresolved territorial dispute over the southern part of the Kuriles – the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and the Habomai group of islands.
The Japanese side calls the South Kuriles “northern territories” and does not recognize Russian sovereignty over them. Moscow, in turn, does not recognize the very fact of the territorial dispute. Washington, like Tokyo, considers the South Kuriles to be part of Japan.
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