The topic of Russia’s possible transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan cannot be discussed in the context of the conclusion of a peace treaty. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova in an interview with the YouTube channel “Antonyms”.
Answering the question of whether Moscow should give the Kuriles of Tokyo to conclude a peace treaty, Zakharova referred to the updated basic law, which contains a ban on the alienation of Russian territories. “It is no longer possible in any way (…) to even discuss, because there is a Constitution. We do not need to debate on this topic, in general,” – explained the representative of the department.
According to her, Moscow is ready to negotiate a peace treaty with Japan. “They all somehow do not refuse, including from building up cooperation with the United States of America to deploy appropriate systems at home, for example, anti-missile systems,” Zakharova said.
She concluded that Russia believes in the development of normal bilateral mutually beneficial relations with Tokyo without any preconditions.
Earlier, the General Secretary of the Japanese Cabinet of Ministers Katsunobu Kato said that Tokyo intends to achieve a final solution to the issue of the Kuril Islands belonging to Russia. “I think that the government will continue to be disposed towards persistent negotiations in accordance with our main course towards resolving the territorial issue and concluding a peace treaty,” he stressed. Kato stressed that this will happen even despite the amendments to the Russian Constitution, which exclude the alienation of territories.
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.