The Japanese will gradually agree to the terms of a peace treaty with Russia, which was not signed at the end of World War II, since Tokyo is largely dependent on the outside world, including the Russian Federation, said State Duma deputy (“LDPR”) Anton Morozov.
Earlier, the head of the opposition Communist Party of Japan, Kazuo Shi, said in an interview with the Yomiuri newspaper that Tokyo, in negotiations with Moscow, should identify the position that the entire Kuril archipelago is “original Japanese territory.” The politician calls the unfair San Francisco peace treaty, concluded after the Second World War, because in it Japan completely abandoned claims on the Kuril Islands.
“We now have a very high level of relations with Japan – economic cooperation, trade, cultural, scientific and so on. Therefore, the positions will gradually come closer, and sooner or later the Japanese will agree to our terms of the peace treaty, because they are largely dependent on the outside world, including from Russia, “Morozov told RIA Novosti.
The deputy noted that only “marginal” Japanese politicians can make such statements in order to get “additional political points”, specifying that he himself was recently with a delegation in Japan and does not remember that the issue of transferring the Kuril Islands was raised.
“Those who engage in serious politics understand that the issue has been discussed so many times and Russia has clearly stated its position that we will not make any territorial concessions. Because this idea is completely absurd from the point of view of our voters and not a single politician in Russia will not be able to declare such a decision, “said Morozov.
Japan claims the South Kuril Islands of Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup and Habomai, citing a bilateral Treaty on Trade and Borders of 1855. In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed the Joint Declaration, in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring Japan to Habomai and Shikotan 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. Japan, on the other hand, considered the document only part of the solution to the problem, without renouncing claims to all islands.
Subsequent negotiations did not lead to anything, the peace treaty at the end of World War II was never signed. Moscow’s position is that the South Kuril Islands became part of the USSR following the Second World War and that Russian sovereignty over them, having the appropriate international legal design, is not in doubt.
Following the meeting of the leaders of Russia and Japan in Singapore on November 14, 2018, the Japanese prime minister said that the parties agreed to accelerate the negotiation process on a peace treaty on the basis of the 1956 Joint Declaration. This was a serious concession from Japan, since until now its official position was the demand for the transfer of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai, and only after that – the conclusion of a peace treaty.