Japan returned the wording about the "illegal occupation" of the southern Kuril Islands by Russia

The Japanese government is determined to conclude a peace treaty with Russia, despite the difficult situation in relations. This is stated in the annual report on diplomacy of the Japanese Foreign Ministry published today, April 8, entitled "Blue Book", which reintroduced the wording about the "illegal occupation" of the southern Kuril Islands by Russia.

"The government will continue to adhere to the policy of resolving the issue of ownership of the four northern islands [as the Russian southern Kuril Islands are called in Japan] and concluding a peace treaty," the document says.

At the same time, the report repeats Tokyo's position, which boils down to the fact that the southern Kuril Islands are "native Japanese territories" that are now allegedly "under the illegal occupation of Russia." The Japanese authorities practically did not use this wording in relation to the Kurils during Shinzo Abe's tenure as prime minister. There was no such phrase in official documents either.

The agency also emphasizes in its report that Japan considers the issue of resuming humanitarian exchanges with the southern part of the Kuril Islands to be a priority, especially visits to ancestral graves by former Japanese residents of these territories, TASS reports.

Recall that Moscow and Tokyo has been negotiating since the middle of the last century to work out a peace agreement on the results of the Second World War. The main obstacle to this remains disagreements over the rights to the southern part of the Kuril Islands. After the end of the war, the entire archipelago was incorporated into the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes the ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small uninhabited islands. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russian sovereignty over these territories, which has an appropriate international legal formalization, is beyond doubt.

Moscow has stopped negotiations with Tokyo on the issue of a peace treaty due to Tokyo's imposition of anti-Russian sanctions in connection with the situation on the Ukraine. In addition, Moscow withdrew from the dialogue with Tokyo on the establishment of joint economic activities in the southern Kuril Islands and blocked the extension of Japan's status as a partner of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization for sectoral dialogue.