Russia Rejects any Discussion of Transferring Two Islands to Japan

Russia has refused to discuss the potential handover of two of four southern Kuril Islands to Japan as part of the talks on signing a peace treaty, Kyodo News said on Sunday, July 14. The news agency reported, citing a source close to the negotiation process, that one of the reasons for Moscow’s refusal to even discuss such an opportunity was Russia’s concerns related to the Japanese-US military alliance.  The refusal also stemmed from fears that a potential compromise on the territorial issue with Japan could have an adverse effect on the level of support for the Russian government by the population. Russia and Japan have not yet signed a Peace Treaty following the Second World War. The main stumbling block to achieving this is the status of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan Islands which became a part of the Soviet Union at the end of the war. Despite this, Tokyo considers the Islands its territories. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed to begin a negotiation process to sign a peace agreement on the basis of the 1956 Soviet-Japanese Declaration. In February, the Japanese media wrote that Tokyo wants to change the strategy of negotiations with Moscow to finally sign a peace Treaty, and in March, sources in the administration of the Russian leader said that Moscow had no plans to hand over the Kuril Islands to Tokyo, as the parties mutually disagree on the proposed terms. Izvestia