Japan has protested to Russia over the suspension of the passage of vessels near the Kuril Islands

Japan has protested to Russia over the alleged temporary suspension of the right of passage of foreign vessels in the area of the "northern territories", as the Kuril islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai are called in Japan, Secretary General of the Japanese government Yoshimasa Hayashi said at a press conference.

"The Russian agency responsible for waterways warned on April 16 that from 16 hours Japanese time (10.00 Moscow time) on April 16 to 00.00 hours on May 1 in the water area, including the territorial waters of our country in the area of the four northern islands, temporarily suspends the right of passage of foreign warships and foreign vessels," — said the Secretary General.

"In this regard, on April 16, a protest was transmitted to the Russian side through diplomatic channels, since the temporary suspension of the right of passage of foreign warships and foreign vessels in the water space, including the territorial waters of our country in the area of the four northern islands, contradicts our country's position on the four northern islands and is unacceptable," Hayashi said..

Between Russia and There is no peace treaty with Japan. In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed a Joint Declaration in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring Habomai and Shikotan to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty, and the fate of Kunashir and Iturup was not affected. The USSR hoped that the Joint Declaration would put an end to the dispute, while Japan considered the document only part of the solution to the problem, without renouncing claims to all the islands.

Subsequent negotiations did not lead to anything, the peace treaty at the end of the Second World War was never signed. There is a point of view that serious opposition arose from the United States, which threatened that if Japan agreed to transfer only two of the four islands to it, this would affect the process of returning Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty (the agreement on the return of Okinawa to Japan entered into force in 1972). Moscow's position is that the islands became part of the USSR following the Second World War, sovereignty The Russian Federation is beyond doubt over them.