Top Russian and Japanese diplomats said Sunday that both countries need to foster good relations to resolve a longstanding ownership dispute over the Kuril Islands, which stretch between northern Japan and the eastern Russian peninsula of Kamchatka.
The announcement comes after both Russian and Japanese foreign ministers at a press conference in Moscow Feb. 11, insisted that their country owns the rights to the territories.
Two days earlier on Feb. 9, at a meeting with Russian officials, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia is looking to strengthen its military presence on the Kurils and will deploy weapons to ensure the security of the islands, which he called “an inseparable part of [the] Russian Federation,” according to a transcript from the meeting.
“We will take any effort to strengthen our presence on the Kuril Islands,” Medvedev said.
Japan lost the Kurils, off the eastern side of its northernmost main island, Hokkaido, after World War II when the Soviet Block annexed the islands. The four disputed islands, Habomai, Shikotan, Etorofu, and Kunashir, called the Northern Territories by Japan, are valuable for their rich fishing grounds.
The long-simmering dispute intensified last November when Medvedev made the first Russian presidential visit to the territory.
On Feb. 7, known in Japan as Northern Territories Day, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called Medvedev’s visit an “unforgivable outrage.”
Russian officials also talked about attracting investors from other Asian countries to the islands. A top Japanese diplomat said this would mean a continuation of tense relations between the countries.
Japan gave up all rights to the islands under the San Francisco Treaty signed in 1951 with the Allied Powers. However the treaty did not specify that the territories would belong to the Soviet Union, which never signed the treaty, and Japan does not recognize the four disputed islands as belonging to the Kurils.
In 1956 the two countries established normal diplomatic relations and signed a declaration in which they agreed to work toward a final peace agreement to end World War II. The final agreement has not been signed due the island dispute.
In addition to the Kuril Islands dispute, Japan is contesting land and sea rights with other Asian-Pacific countries. Last year tensions increased with China when a Japanese coast guard boat collided with a Chinese fishing vessel near the disputed Diaoyu Island chain in the East China Sea. Japan is also in contest with South Korea over ownership of small islets.
The announcement comes after both Russian and Japanese foreign ministers at a press conference in Moscow Feb. 11, insisted that their country owns the rights to the territories.
Two days earlier on Feb. 9, at a meeting with Russian officials, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia is looking to strengthen its military presence on the Kurils and will deploy weapons to ensure the security of the islands, which he called “an inseparable part of [the] Russian Federation,” according to a transcript from the meeting.
“We will take any effort to strengthen our presence on the Kuril Islands,” Medvedev said.
Japan lost the Kurils, off the eastern side of its northernmost main island, Hokkaido, after World War II when the Soviet Block annexed the islands. The four disputed islands, Habomai, Shikotan, Etorofu, and Kunashir, called the Northern Territories by Japan, are valuable for their rich fishing grounds.
The long-simmering dispute intensified last November when Medvedev made the first Russian presidential visit to the territory.
On Feb. 7, known in Japan as Northern Territories Day, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan called Medvedev’s visit an “unforgivable outrage.”
Russian officials also talked about attracting investors from other Asian countries to the islands. A top Japanese diplomat said this would mean a continuation of tense relations between the countries.
Japan gave up all rights to the islands under the San Francisco Treaty signed in 1951 with the Allied Powers. However the treaty did not specify that the territories would belong to the Soviet Union, which never signed the treaty, and Japan does not recognize the four disputed islands as belonging to the Kurils.
In 1956 the two countries established normal diplomatic relations and signed a declaration in which they agreed to work toward a final peace agreement to end World War II. The final agreement has not been signed due the island dispute.
In addition to the Kuril Islands dispute, Japan is contesting land and sea rights with other Asian-Pacific countries. Last year tensions increased with China when a Japanese coast guard boat collided with a Chinese fishing vessel near the disputed Diaoyu Island chain in the East China Sea. Japan is also in contest with South Korea over ownership of small islets.
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