Nothing bad seems to have happened yet. Putin simply said in an interview that the issue with the islands can be resolved solely on the basis of the Joint Soviet-Japanese Declaration of 1956. But this declaration says nothing about how the islands will be transferred, under what conditions, etc. In general, we will negotiate and conduct and conduct... And everything will be fine!

And indeed, one would believe that everything would be fine. In the sense of integrity and indivisibility. But, on November 16, 2018, Secretary of the Japanese Government Yoshihide Suga makes a statement that the Japanese government, in general, is ready... Ready for what? If you remove all diplomatic politesse, then the Japanese agree to conclude a Peace Treaty after the islands of Habomai and Shikotan are transferred to them. And they really hope that everything will happen this year.

And then comes the statement of the Japanese Prime Minister: Shinzo Abe solemnly promises that there will be no American military bases on these islands.

And all of this, taken together, is very bad.

Two years ago I already wrote about the “disputed islands” - Does Russia need a peace treaty with Japan? In detail, with maps, history of the issue and a detailed analysis of Japanese appetites.

Since then, nothing has changed, except for one thing - the Japanese suddenly softened their position and are already agreeing to “only” two islands. At the same time, “our partners” do not hide the reason why they decided to relent - after Putin, a “more decisive and independent leader” will come, with whom it will be possible to resolve other territorial problems.

Our state media limited themselves to two-minute videos on this matter (which is extremely surprising - the negotiations lasted more than one hour), articles with varying degrees of optimism appeared on the Internet. Patriots are confident that Putin will not allow this to happen and this cannot happen. Liberals fear that the “Putin regime” will now receive money from the Japanese for the islands and silence the “cattle”, and the “scoops”, in gratitude, will continue to vote for the Great.

The Chinese are gloating that the cunning Putin smiled again, but did not promise anything.

Several experts noted that they would give up the islands, but not immediately, but gradually. Over 50 or 100 years. Step by step. The islands are good, but now we really need money. And, as a bonus, a peace treaty. The people are angry now, but if gradually, then both the wolves with meat and the sheep will not understand that they were not just shorn, but already cut up for shish kebab.

I found only one blogger, a resident of those very Kuril Islands, who shouted: Guard, they are robbing!

And his concern is close and understandable to me. It looks a lot like they're actually being robbed.

Why is Putin even meeting with this Abe? It is clear that the Japanese prime minister is not interested in anything other than our territories. Well, the Japanese man wants to go down in the history of his people. And he has elections soon.

Why was this Khrushchev declaration of 1956 brought to light? Khrushchev, by the way, was almost put up against the wall for this initiative - this was one of the serious points of accusation when the “corn man” was removed from the post of First Secretary in 1964. They took pity and didn’t shoot him. Although, according to Soviet law, for such free handling of the territory they could easily smear the bad head with brilliant green. On completely legal grounds.

And then this piece of paper surfaced again.

Why does Russia need a peace treaty with Japan? Why the hell are Putin and Medvedev smeared with honey in this Japan?

I do not at all share the cheerfulness of the patriots who believe that Putin “will not give up” just because he is Putin. In our country, Gorbachev and Yeltsin have been assigned the status of judges of Russia. And Putin seems to be a collector. After Crimea.

Only after all, this couple, Putin-Medvedev, was noticed in squandering state-owned lands.

In 2008, China was granted 337 square kilometers from the royal shoulder in the Khabarovsk region.

In 2010, Norway was given 300,000 square kilometers of shelf (for reference: the area of ​​the Belgorod region is 27,100 sq. km.) with 60% of the Russian pollock reserve, gas and oil deposits worth approximately 30 - 50 billion American rubles. I can’t help but remember the pensioners for whom there is no money and who are ruining the country.

In 2011, Azerbaijan received half of the water intake of the Samur River and two villages with 600 families living in them. Not even a royal gift, but some kind of satrap gift - land with slaves.

And two years later, about 10,000 more hectares were cut off in favor of the same Azerbaijan and left 300,000 Lezgins literally without a piece of bread - high mountain pastures, the golden fund of the region, were transferred. The Lezgins grazed cattle on these pastures for hundreds of years and lived in three regions from these meadows. And in those places there are no more pastures - only mountains around.

And tell me the reason why the Kuril Islands will not float away to Japan like clouds?

There must be some logic in the actions of President Putin and his team?

Conclude a peace treaty? Will it make us warmer? We lived seventy-three years without a contract, so what? Yes, this agreement is more for the Japanese than we need. The Chinese have a very good memory, which they do not hide. And Japan owes them a lot. Soon we will have to pay the bills without any options. And there is no other country in the region other than Russia that could help the Japanese maintain, at a minimum, stability. And then there are the Koreans, especially the North Koreans, who like to launch missiles over Japan.

Investments? A very dubious purchase. Investments are not “make money and do what you want.” And this is a form of targeted lending. The money will need to be returned, and even with interest. And under government guarantees.

It’s like I would give away a car, and the buyer gave me a loan for the car. The car is his and I owe the money.

And then I seriously doubt that the Japanese will really invest in significant projects in Far East. Why should they strong Russia on the Pacific Ocean? There are few problems and they will create another very big one for themselves?

I will not consider the option of exchanging Japanese investments for Russian promises at all. For the reason that this is the next probability after the arrival of the Martians. They don’t elect Yeltsins and Gorbachevs as prime ministers.

It’s clear why officials and court businesses need investments, but for us Russians, why do we need such a gift? Then spend two hundred years paying for the stolen money and admiring our former islands?

Some kind of political gain? No matter how you look at it, there are only disadvantages... The Japanese pressed harder and the Russians gave it up. And Kaliningrad, and Crimea, and the ancestral Ukrainian lands to the Urals, and Kemsk volost, finally? This will wake up the appetite of many, including China. If they give it away for free, then why not demand it?

And it’s a good idea to remember that Japan is the girl of the USA. Abe can promise that he will at least become a woman. And the Americans will order and there will be bases on the islands. What are the promises of “our partners” worth if they break contracts easily and naturally? And the Japanese are no exception. This happened in Russian-Japanese relations. We changed our minds. Abe will pat Abe with sad eyes and retire as an epic hero for his people. Or he’ll just send him where the Japanese send fools. And what? Shall we start a war for our former islands?

Let's throw two at them atomic bombs and they will love us. Like Americans. Or is it better to have three so that they love you more?

Transferring the islands to Japan will, in politics, be more than just a strategic loss. This will be the eve of surrender.

Will the Japanese, having received the islands, become our allies in the region? How did the Norwegians, who, in gratitude for the generous gift, began to demand an increase in their share in the Arctic, since their territory had “grown,” brought American warships to themselves and into our former waters, imposed sanctions against Russia and declared the Russians the biggest threat to Norway ?

Or did Azerbaijan, after the gift of lands with living people, really love us?

How will the residents of the “remaining” islands, Sakhalin, Kamchatka, Primorye and the entire Far East react to this?

Why all these jumps and jumps on the shore? Pacific Ocean? The game, if it is a game, is too risky. And what’s interesting is that it does not promise any gain for the Russian State. Who is Putin “playing on Anton’s nose” here?

It turns out that there is no other interest other than “investment”. Someone really wants money... A lot of money.

And in such a situation, I would not say that Putin will not give up. You can ask almost pensioners or those who lived on the border with Azerbaijan and who were not even asked if they wanted to change their citizenship. If there is a smell of money (especially big money), betting on a liberal is very risky - the more money, the farther the new democratic homeland is from Russia. They absorb this with Coca-Cola from childhood.

Therefore, it is likely that the Kuril blogger was not in vain shouting: Guard! They're robbing!
/ The author’s opinion may not coincide with the editorial position /

According to reports from Russian news agencies and Japanese media, negotiations between Russia and Japan on concluding a peace treaty have entered the technical phase.

At a meeting on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Buenos Aires, Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Japanese Prime Minister agreed on a new mechanism for resolving the problem of a peace treaty between the two countries.

Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia Igor Morgulov and Deputy Foreign Minister of Japan Takeo Mori have been appointed special representatives negotiating a peace treaty. The work of the special representatives will be supervised by the Foreign Ministers of Russia and Japan - Sergei Lavrov and Taro Kono.

As expected, before Shinzo Abe’s next visit to Russia, if there is such an opportunity, it is planned to hold a meeting between the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs - Sergei Lavrov and Taro Kono.

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that the change in the format of the negotiations is not radically new; we are only talking about clarifying this format.

However, the appointment of two special representatives means that the leaders of Russia and Japan have made the main political decision, and now the issue can be transferred to technical specialists.

The essence of the political decision is that Russia and Japan agreed to act in the spirit of the famous Declaration of 1956, according to which Russia (in Article 9 of the Declaration - the USSR) “meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer to Japan of the islands of Habomai and the island of Shikotan with the proviso, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will take place after the conclusion of the peace treaty.”

Previously, Japan objected to proposals to first conclude a peace treaty, and only then move on to discussing issues of the disputed territories. Actually, this is where political progress lies – the parties have returned to the positions they outlined before the aggravation of Russian-Japanese relations that arose as a result of Japan’s conclusion of a defense cooperation agreement with the United States.

However, the Japanese newspaper Mainichi, reporting on the appointment of special representatives, stipulates that the issues raised will have to be resolved Russian President, in particular, the number and terms of the transfer of islands, as well as which country will have sovereignty over them, and what to do with the problem of the possible placement of US military bases on the transferred territory.

Let us recall that earlier the Japanese newspaper Asahi reported on Shinzo Abe’s promise to Vladimir Putin not to place American military bases on the disputed islands of the Kuril chain if they are transferred to Japan.

Apparently, Vladimir Putin and Shinzo Abe entered into a “gentleman’s agreement” to act in the spirit of the 1956 Declaration, and implement its Article 9 in full if public opinion in the two countries allows.

In this form, the compromise is a concession on both sides - Moscow agrees to the transfer of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, and Tokyo withdraws its claims to the island. Iturup and Fr. Kunashir.

The main problem here is public opinion in both countries. The Russians would not want to transfer any of the disputed islands to Japan, and the official position of the Russian Foreign Ministry is based on this - these territories are under the sovereignty of Russia, and the Japanese would like to demarcate the Kuril ridge according to the treaty of 1855, that is, to receive the Habomai islands, and about. Shikotan, and Fr. Iturup, and Fr. Kunashir.

An interesting question is which country will have sovereignty over the islands of Habomai and Fr. Shikotan, initiated by Vladimir Putin when he commented on the contents of the 1956 Declaration.


From international practice, in addition to the most obvious answers “of course, Russia” or “of course, Japan”, more exotic forms are also known, such as co-ownership (condominium), the so-called. “free territory” under international control (well, for example, like the “free territory of Trieste” that existed for some time after World War II, a demilitarized zone, leaving the islands under Russian sovereignty, but leasing them to Japan for 99 years, transferring the islands to Japanese sovereignty and the conclusion of an agreement on their lease by Russia for 99 years, etc.

In the end, the form in which a “gentleman's agreement” can be implemented is not that important. Another thing is much more important - why does Russia need this at all, given that neither the population of the country, nor political parties and movements want the transfer of disputed territories to Japan, and a peace treaty is not so needed, since the state of war between Moscow and Tokyo has already ended according to the same Declaration of 1956?

Russia, of course, does not need this in any way now or in the short term. If, since August 1945, Japan has quietly coexisted with Russia, without possessing the “Northern Territories,” most likely, it will manage just fine without these few rocky patches of land washed by the ocean for the same amount of time.

However, how long will Japan exist as a pro-American puppet state? Although this definition is probably offensive to the Japanese, now both the EU and Japan sit under the American strategic umbrella and are generally not independent and dependent on Washington.

At the same time, the tendency towards isolation from the US and NATO is gaining strength in Europe, and over time, with a horizon of 50-75 years, the EU will probably turn into an independent global center of power. The same reasoning applies to Japan, and then the question arises: how friendly will a truly independent, powerful Japan be to Russia?

However, Japan, which has resolved the territorial problem with Russia to mutual satisfaction, in the event of leaving the American strategic umbrella (and then it will cease to be “pro-American”), represents a potentially very beneficial international factor for Russia, perhaps an interesting regional partner, partly as a counterbalance to China, partly as opposed to the USA.

14:32 — REGNUM The refusal of the press secretary of the Russian President to comment on the “nuances” of tête-à-tête talks between Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe only strengthened suspicions regarding a conspiracy behind the backs of the people regarding the fate of the islands of the Lesser Kuril chain that legally belong to our country , and the islands of the Great Kuril Ridge too.

Publications in the Russian media that those who have set their goal political life“return” of the Kuril Islands Abe is allegedly ready to “close the issue”, being satisfied only with the Lesser Kuril ridge - the island of Shikotan and 18 small islands, called Habomai in Japan, indicate an insufficient understanding of the sentiments existing in Japan on the issue of the so-called “northern territories”. In reality, Abe and his entourage only suggested that Putin start with the Lesser Kuril Ridge. And then, without ceasing to put forward unreasonable demands, to seek inclusion into the Japanese state of the islands of the Great Kuril chain - Kunashir and Iturup, to which Japan has no legal rights or grounds. In order to be convinced of this, it is enough to familiarize yourself with the almost daily assurances of the Secretary General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Japan Y. Suga, who convinces the people that there are no changes in Abe’s position regarding the demands of all the “northern territories” - Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and Habomai, of course, with the richest 200-mile economic zones surrounding them.

As for the attempts to first lure Putin into negotiations on the “return” of supposedly only two islands, this insidious idea belongs not to Abe, but to his former party colleague, the cunning politician Muneo Suzuki, who “advises” him on methods of working with Russians, who was once expelled from Liberal Democratic Party of Japan and served a prison sentence for corruption. He proposed his plan to Abe, which he tried to implement in the processing of Boris Yeltsin, who agreed at a certain stage, not without Suzuki’s participation, to “give friend Ryu (then Prime Minister of Japan Ryutaro Hashimoto)” all the South Kuril Islands. By the way, we must pay tribute to Japanese prime ministers who, using Japanese methods of “enveloping” a partner with flattery and promises, quickly achieve “friendship” with the people they need Russian politicians and their transition to highly confidential negotiations hidden from the public.

But let’s return to the personality of Mr. Suzuki, who, for some unknown reason, seriously influences the current Prime Minister Abe. After the first official visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan in 2000, local newspapers emphasized that Putin for the first time recognized the validity of the 1956 Joint Declaration, which means that negotiations on the territorial issue will continue. It was noted that

“Putin became the first of the current Russian leaders to recognize the validity of the declaration and the possibility of its use as a legal basis for the continuation of negotiations between the two countries related to their territorial dispute.”

It was concluded that the new president was inclined to seek solutions to political contradictions with Japan, which gave rise to a certain optimism among official Tokyo.

The fact that Putin was understood correctly was actually confirmed by representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry, who in their explanations to Japanese journalists chose not to confirm, but also not to deny such an interpretation of the president’s remarks. Putin himself, at a press conference in Tokyo, limited himself to only stating the complexity of the situation.

“What needs to be done to finally resolve the problem that exists between Russia and Japan? - he asked the question and answered it himself. “If we knew this one hundred percent, we would probably be answering other questions now.”

It should be noted that the position taken by Putin, or rather, imposed by diplomats from Yeltsin’s entourage, contained an obvious contradiction. On the one hand, in the joint statement published following the visit, all the South Kuril Islands claimed by Japan were again named as objects of dispute, and on the other hand, a line was outlined to return to the terms of the Joint Declaration of 1956, which refers only to the islands of Habomai and Shikotan.

Ivan Shilov © IA REGNUM

Having sensed Putin’s mood to look for ways to “finally resolve the problem,” Japanese politicians decided to help in such a search. The greatest activity in this direction was carried out by Muneo Suzuki, who held important positions in the ruling party and government for a number of years. As a member of parliament from the northern Hokkaido constituency, this politician set out to “make a personal contribution” to resolving the territorial dispute with Russia. To do this, he established close ties with the Japanese Foreign Ministry officials responsible for Japanese-Russian relations, and through them with Russian diplomats and politicians. Quite soon, Suzuki managed to “privatize” the territorial problem, achieving complete control over the course of its discussion by the foreign ministries of the two countries.

The plan of Suzuki and his henchmen in the Japanese Foreign Ministry was to involve the Russian government in discussing specific issues about the “return” of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, for starters. During conversations with Russian politicians and diplomats in Tokyo and Moscow, Suzuki paid the main attention to the islands of the Lesser Kuril chain, hinting at the supposed possibility of limiting the transfer of only these territories under certain conditions. At the same time, he promised his Japanese colleagues that he would certainly encourage the Russian side not to abandon the search for a solution to the issue of Kunashir and Iturup. However, much suggests that Suzuki himself, in his secret plans, agreed to receive only Habomai and Shikotan, because in this case these islands, and most importantly, the seafood-rich waters washing them, would most likely administratively be included in the area of ​​his electoral district with all the ensuing material benefits. The fact that this politician did not forget about his pocket when solving government issues was evidenced by the loud corruption scandal that subsequently broke out, which resulted in the arrest of Suzuki and his accomplices from among senior diplomats and prison sentences. However, that was later.

In the period 2000−2001. Suzuki's political maneuvers in the Japanese-Russian direction met with the understanding of Japanese Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori, who, like all his predecessors in this post, wanted to leave his name in history by achieving the “return of the original Japanese territories.” This was manifested in his undisguised interest in expanding contacts with President Putin in order to convince the latter of the great benefits for Russia of resolving the territorial dispute and signing a peace treaty between the two states. Due to the fact that Mori’s popularity in the country was falling, the Prime Minister hoped to improve his affairs by organizing another meeting with Putin as soon as possible to make “new” proposals on the territorial issue.

At first, the Japanese-Russian summit in Irkutsk was scheduled for the end of February 2001, but then was postponed by the Russian side to March 25. In all likelihood, Moscow needed time to verify the reliability of the “information” about Tokyo’s readiness for a compromise, which was supplied by “Russia’s friend” Suzuki. Judging by the events that followed, the Kremlin decided to make it clear to the Japanese with greater certainty that the territorial problem could be resolved by returning to the conditions of 1956.

It seems that in Irkutsk, in confidence, Putin agreed to discuss the option of transferring the Lesser Kuril Ridge to Japan. According to then-Prime Minister Mori, Putin said that if re-elected as president for a second term, he was ready to negotiate on Shikotan and Habomai. According to the former Japanese prime minister, the following was said verbatim:

“The transfer of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan is now difficult to implement. But if I am re-elected for a second term, I will make every effort to return these islands to Japan.”

Subsequently, the Russian Foreign Ministry refused to confirm this statement.

Hearing this from the president, Mori began to “strike while the iron is hot.” He tried his best to convince his interlocutor to agree to the “return” of all the South Kuril Islands, declaring Japan’s readiness to get what they wanted not at the same time, but as if in installments - first Habomai and Shikotan, and then, after some time, Kunashir and Iturup. At the same time, the Japanese position was presented as an alleged manifestation of a new, more flexible approach to solving the territorial problem.

Naturally, Putin could not agree with such an “expansive” interpretation of his consent to continue negotiations on the two islands, which was directly stated to the Japanese Prime Minister. Moreover, the President considered it necessary to point out the existing discrepancies in what was written in the Joint Declaration, saying that Article 9 “needs additional work by experts to develop a uniform understanding” of its provisions. The essence of the “discrepancies” is that the Japanese side for some reason believes that the text of Article 9 supposedly implies the transfer of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan, regardless of the signing of the peace treaty. The agreement, according to the Japanese version, can be concluded only after the issue of ownership of the islands of Kunashir and Iturup is resolved in favor of Japan.

Such an interpretation is at least strange - after all, this article of the Joint Declaration clearly states:

“At the same time, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer to Japan of the islands of Habomai and the island of Shikotan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan.”

It clearly follows from this that, according to the Joint Declaration of 1956, the possibility of transferring the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan is provided only on the condition that the Japanese side agrees to renounce other territorial claims and this is confirmed by the fact of concluding a peace treaty. In this regard, putting forward claims to Kunashir and Iturup is nothing more than an arbitrary step of Japanese diplomacy.

Despite the fact that in Irkutsk, President Putin politely rejected the proposal of the Japanese side to begin the so-called “negotiations on two tracks,” namely on Habomai and Shikotan and separately on Kunashir and Iturup, he, like a year ago, signed the agreement agreed between Russian and Japanese diplomats, a document in which they repeated and even expanded the formulations of the Yeltsin period that were favorable to Japan. Thus, the president’s proposal to consider the possibility of returning to the 1956 compromise seemed to hang in the air.

Nevertheless, to the considerable satisfaction of the Japanese side, the joint statement again included provisions beneficial to Japan, fixing the “disputed nature” of all the islands claimed by Tokyo. In a joint statement signed by the President of the Russian Federation, in particular, it was written that the parties:

“- Based on this, they agreed to accelerate further negotiations with the aim of concluding a peace treaty by resolving the issue of ownership of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai and thus achieve complete normalization of bilateral relations on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration on Russian-Japanese Relations of 1993;

— agreed to intensify negotiations in order to achieve a mutually acceptable solution and, as soon as possible, determine a specific direction of movement towards concluding a peace treaty;

- confirmed that they will continue cooperation related to the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, aimed at creating favorable conditions for the speedy conclusion of a peace treaty;

— confirmed the importance of implementing the Memorandum on the new edition of the Joint Collection of Documents on the history of territorial delimitation between Russia and Japan and activities to explain to the public the importance of concluding a peace treaty, signed on January 16, 2001 in Moscow by Foreign Ministers I. S. Ivanov and Y. Kono.”

Ivan Shilov © IA REGNUM

The text of the Irkutsk Statement, like the content of similar bilateral documents of the Yeltsin period, although it was largely imposed by the Japanese side and contained statements favorable to it, did not go beyond the scope of the “memorandum of intent.” The indication of the desire to “conclude a peace treaty by resolving the issue of ownership of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai” did not mean that the issue of ownership of these islands should a priori be resolved in favor of Japan. Noteworthy was the appearance in the statement, apparently at the initiative of the Russian side, of a clause characterizing the 1956 Joint Declaration as “basic legal document" This was evidence of the intention of the Russian leadership at a certain stage to bring the conditions of 1956 to the center of Russian-Japanese negotiations on concluding a peace treaty.

However, the plan to involve Moscow in specific negotiations on the transfer of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan on the terms of agreement with subsequent discussion of the issue of ownership of Kunashir and Iturup could not be realized. It can be said that the combination inspired by Suzuki and his Russian partners with the “reanimation” of the conditions of 1956 resulted in a fiasco for both the Japanese and Russian sides. The Kremlin was made to understand that no matter how the negotiations progress, the Japanese government will not renounce its claims to Kunashir and Iturup. One of Japan's leading newspapers, Asahi Shimbun, noted after the Irkutsk meeting:

“...Russia still claims that, according to the Declaration, territorial negotiations end with the return of only two islands to Japan. But if this is so, and Russia is not ready to go beyond the return of two islands to Japan, then this is fraught with nothing more than the failure of negotiations. At the same time, if we assume that Japan, which demands four islands, would now agree to receive only two islands, then this would still lead to further negotiations on the return of the other two remaining islands. And therefore, at the current meeting of the leaders of the two countries, such differences in their positions remained absolutely not overcome.”

This situation continues to this day. Nevertheless, the results of the Irkutsk meeting brought a new emphasis to the Russian-Japanese dialogue on the issue of concluding a peace treaty and demonstrated Moscow’s desire to seek compromise options.

The end of the behind-the-scenes activities of Suzuki and his Japanese and Russian diplomats The “team” was put in place by the new Prime Minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, who came to power in April 2001. Already in his first speech in the Japanese parliament, he emphasized that he would steadily strive for the return of all four South Kuril Islands to Japan. This meant that the proposal made by the Russian side about the possibility of transferring the two islands was rejected. The Japanese plan for conducting negotiations “on two tracks” was also criticized, that is, separately on the transfer of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan and on the ownership of Kunashir and Iturup.

However, close contacts of Russian diplomats with Suzuki and his assistants continued until a corruption scandal of unprecedented scale broke out in Japan around this political businessman, involving both entrepreneurs and many officials of the Japanese Foreign Ministry. And only after this, having finally understood who they were dealing with, the Russian leadership somewhat cooled down to behind-the-scenes contacts with Japanese politicians. Moreover, it was decided to demonstrate a firm position regarding Japanese claims to the Far Eastern lands of Russia. With tacit consent, and perhaps at the initiative of the Kremlin, on March 18, 2002, open hearings “Southern Kuril Islands: problems of economics, politics and security” were held in the State Duma of the Russian Federation. The hearings were organized jointly by the Security Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Geopolitics Committee, in which MPs loyal to the government predominated.

“Based on the legal, historical and moral justification for the ownership of the southern Kuril Islands, and also taking into account their exceptional importance from geopolitical, military-strategic, moral-political and economic points of view, the participants in the parliamentary hearings declare that the so-called territorial issue has found its legal and fair decision following the Second World War, enshrined in relevant international agreements, should not be on the agenda of Russian-Japanese relations.”

Daria Antonova © IA REGNUM

Participants in the hearings expressed their conviction that “a peace treaty with Japan at the cost of territorial concessions to Russia is unacceptable.” It was proposed that the head of state should direct the Russian Foreign Ministry to abandon fruitless negotiations and to conclude a comprehensive Treaty of Good Neighborhood and Cooperation with Japan.

There was no public reaction from the president to this appeal. Moreover, a senior representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry hastened to assure the Japanese that Moscow “will continue to continue negotiations with Tokyo regarding the four islands.” This allowed Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi to express the opinion that “the position Russian government differs from the position of the Duma” and one should “trust the statements of the Russian government about its readiness to discuss all issues related to the negotiations on a peace treaty between the two countries.”

What is happening now is just an attempt to “reanimate” Suzuki’s plan, only now Russian President Vladimir Putin has become the object of “active measures”.

It is important to understand that even if politician Abe, who has decided to put his reputation on the line, agrees to the conditions for Russia to surrender only Habomai and Shikotan, not only the opposition, but also fellow party members will not allow him to do this. Let us recall that in the last election of the party chairman, a third of the congress participants voted for another candidate, Shigeru Ishiba. And Ishiba, as you know, is critical of Abe’s methods of working with the Russian president.

We should not forget that parliamentary Communist Party Japan advocates in its program the “return” of all the Kuril Islands up to Kamchatka. And the numerous right-wing nationalist organizations in the country, supported by big capital, even demand “all Tishima and Karafuto,” that is, all the Kuril Islands and Southern Sakhalin. It is these slogans that are inscribed on their “decorated” militaristic flags propaganda machines and are kept in heart-rending screams outside the walls of the Russian embassy and other Russian institutions in Japan.

Ivan Shilov © IA REGNUM

And surveys of the country’s population, who have imbibed from school the belief in “the original belonging of Japan to all the northern territories,” show that a clear minority is in favor of resolving the “territorial issue” on the basis of a voluntaristic “Khrushchev compromise.” So the Lesser Kuril Ridge is unlikely to suit the Japanese, who emphasize that it makes up only 7 percent of the area of ​​the coveted “northern territories.”

In addition, our population is not informed that in reality Abe is not proposing the conditions of 1956, but the resuscitation of the “Yeltsin-Kozyrev” plan for the surrender of the Kuril Islands in two stages - “two plus alpha” - first Shikotan and Habomai, and then Kunashir and Iturup . There is also an idea in Japan to include in the draft peace treaty the consent of the Russian side to continue negotiations on the “return” of Kunashir and Iturup. But then it will not be a peace treaty, but some other one, because the peace treaty provides for the final settlement of the border line.

In conclusion, we note with regret that the Kuril Islands will remain Russian not as a result of the principled position of the Russian authorities, but as a result of the revanchist sentiments of the Japanese, adhering to the “all or nothing” principle, which is futile in this case.

08:57 — REGNUM Residents of the Kuril Islands are perplexed and indignant at the “advice” of some residents of central Russia regarding the surrender of the Kuril Islands to Japan. They advise you to rejoice and give up. They also give arguments - “you will be better off there.” In response, the Kuril residents advise first surrendering Moscow to the Germans - for the same reasons, the correspondent reports IA REGNUM.

Oksana Riznich

Director of the Kuril Local History Museum, writer and artist Oksana Riznich, posted on her Facebook page a very emotional, full of indignation appeal to all kinds of “advisers.”

"Advisers" from Moscow, Tver and even Kyiv strongly recommend that Kuril residents rejoice, surrender the Kuril Islands to Japan and live happily. There is only one argument: “it’s better there.” There are other opinions from those who have never been to the Kuril Islands or the Far East in general. They have also never been to Japan. Their argument: “let them take it, I’ve never eaten crabs anyway.”

The country is discussing why Russia should not lose the Kuril Islands. Seriously. He collects all sorts of arguments. Write comments:

“Let them give it back, the locals will be better off with the Japanese.”

“Let them give it back, I’ve never eaten Kamchatka crab anyway.”

“Let them give it back, because we won’t get anything anyway.”

Apart from eating and filling their own pockets, idiots have no other aspirations in life. Russia should not lose the Kuril Islands simply because Russia has them. All! And when I read all this nonsense, I want to start reasoning the same way idiots reason:

“Do we need Moscow? Think for yourself? Need it? For what? Ten arguments, please, in a list. Shall we give it back? The Japanese, the Chinese, the Germans - and what was not given back during World War II? Muscovites will definitely be better off under the Germans - there will be order. Who else needs a piece of Russian territory? Khabarovsk residents will be fine with the Chinese. Residents of Karelia will be very happy with the Finns. The people of Kiev are also enthusiastically discussing the Kuril issue. Well, this has been good for a long time. Well, you don’t need our Kuril Islands - sit quietly in your cities, eat sprat in tomato and don’t interfere! Look, they're giving away islands! Damn landowners! — Oksana Riznich wrote.

Correspondent IA REGNUM I managed to get through to Oksana Riznich, despite the fact that cellular communication does not work well everywhere on the islands.

: “How is it, residents of Iturup? What do they say about the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan?

“Now we’ll ask them. Hey guys, what do you think about the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan? - she called out to passers-by.

“We don’t have any attitude. Moscow has nothing to do, but we have work to do. How can we relate? Negative, of course" , - answered the passers-by.

"You see now? The people here are busy, working people, they have no time to discuss nonsense. Nobody believes in such a possibility. That's why they're so calm. And how can you even believe in such a thing? Here, the other day, at a bus stop, my grandmother told me that a hospital had been built. And then he asks: will they really hand the hospital over to the Japanese? They won’t give it up, I say. She immediately calmed down - she said, well, that’s good, otherwise they’re “soaped up” , Oksana laughs.

“There’s one thing I don’t understand: where did all these commentators come from? The impression is that we sat for many years and only thought about how to improve our life in the Kuril Islands by handing us over to the Japanese. No, well, eh?! And after all, the majority have neither an ear nor a clue about what the Kuril Islands are. And the Kuril Islands are our land. Our. What kind of talk can there be about transferring them to Japan? How many years did Japan control the Kuril Islands? Unhappy 90 years? She did something here for at most 40 years. People live here. They live! The state border is formalized and recognized by all countries. Well, except for Japan. Well, to hell with it! Do the Japanese apply for visas when they come here? That means they will also admit it. Why do we even have to discuss this?!” - she is indignant.

This is not the first year that visa-free exchanges have existed between the Kuril Islands and Japanese Hokkaido. Residents of the Kuril Islands go to Japan, the Japanese go to the Kuril Islands. People - ordinary people- communicate with each other. And they know very well the value of conversations different politicians about how “the entire Japanese nation is grieving over the unresolved Kuril issue.”

“Yes, the majority of the Japanese don’t even know what it is - that’s the whole problem! Japanese businessmen - yes, they are grieving. But not about the ownership of the Kuril Islands, but about the fact that their government does not allow them to earn money! They would happily do business in the Kuril Islands - in the Russian Kuril Islands! And Mr. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in general, it seems, he decided to replace real work for the benefit of Japan and the Japanese people with a struggle to solve a far-fetched problem. Let Hokkaido go and develop! Well, from Moscow it seems that there, in Hokkaido, there is paradise. And there for a very long time - not paradise. There are almost as many garbage dumps and collapsed buildings there as in the Kuril Islands. The fishing business is virtually buried, the children of fishermen are leaving their home in Tokyo because they see no prospects in Hokkaido. This is where Mr. Abe needs to put his energy! Otherwise, I get the impression that we, Kuril residents, know more about the problems of Hokkaido than the Japanese prime minister. Let Mr. Abe go and develop his country - he has a lot of work to do there. And the Japanese, I am sure, will appreciate this much more than the far-fetched problem of the “northern territories.” Because this “problem” is not a problem at all. These are Abe's personal ambitions - and nothing more. And when they tell me “the Japanese insist on transferring the Kuril Islands,” it just makes me laugh. Ordinary Japanese, ordinary people, do not want this at all from their power. And in this, we Russians are very similar to the Japanese - after all, we, like them, want real work from our politicians, and not “problems” they have invented. , Oksana Riznich is convinced.

During a state visit to Singapore and a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to return to the discussion of the 1956 declaration and the issue of ratification of the peace treaty with Japan.

Kuril Islands: you can’t give away and stay

In particular, the Russian leader said that that very Soviet declaration “says that Soviet Union after signing a peace treaty, he is ready to transfer two southern islands to Japan.

It does not say on what basis to transfer, under whose sovereignty these islands will remain. But the readiness to transfer the two islands has been recorded. After this, ratification took place Supreme Council USSR and Japanese parliament. And then Japan refused to implement the agreements."

Naturally, the opposition public and the media perceived this statement as Putin’s willingness to give the Kuril Islands to Japan. Especially in the context of the fact that Abe has already promised not to host US military bases on these islands if they are transferred to Japan.

But it is clear that the perception of the concerned public is extremely different from what is happening in reality. But in reality, there is a Soviet declaration of 1956, in which the Soviet government stated that a peace treaty with Japan would be ratified after the USSR transferred Habomai and Shikotan to Japan.

But the Japanese government then refused to sign this declaration because it wants more than two islands, and ideally it wants the entire Kuril ridge. And then, of course, a peace treaty.

As for military bases, everything here is also more than interesting. Abe, of course, said that there wouldn’t be any, if anything happens. But back in 2016, Shotaro Yachi, the head of the Japanese Security Council, told Patrushev something exactly the opposite. And you need to understand that in the last few decades, international diplomacy has been reduced to a simple thesis: “promising does not mean marrying.”

This is especially true in relation to our country. And Putin, and our diplomats and specialists in foreign policy cannot help but understand this. Especially after the story with Libya, and with Syria too. Well, with the non-expansion of NATO to the East, which Putin regularly reminds his Western partners about.

At the same time, as the author of the telegram channel “Neurotic” notes, “the absence of a peace treaty does not interfere with either full-fledged diplomatic relations or lively contacts in any other area - from private tourism to the economy. It does not in any way resemble a “state of war.”

In fact, both interested parties are quite happy with this state of affairs. And if one of the third parties is not satisfied, then this is not our problem, and that is precisely why there is a “Kuril ritual”, which has enormous political significance and has absolutely no applied significance.

As for applied or economic applications, in general, they also exist. For example, in 2017, the Russian government established a zone of advanced economic development in Shikotan, and generally allocated Shikotan as a territory of a special economy together with the Japanese side.

The same concerned public already saw in this “the beginning of the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan.” But few people noticed that such a decision was met with hostility by a number of Japanese representatives. They also have their own concerned public there.

The Japanese were then outraged that this economic zone was formalized within the framework of internal Russian legislation. They demanded separate agreements and the development of a separate legal framework.

But, as they say, “It’s crap for you, not Kunashir.” Because the Kuril Islands are Russian territory, where only and purely Russian legislation applies. As a result, there is a zone, and economic development there is, and a seafood processing plant on Shikotan is being built and developed, and everything seems to have calmed down, the concerned public has forgotten about these events.

But here is a new round of negotiations, new statements, which, by the way, are very vague because, although Russia is the legal successor of the USSR, the 1956 declaration really looks very vague. But it is really necessary to negotiate cooperation with Japan; after all, this is a vast market and our partnership would be beneficial to both parties.

And it is quite natural that, as part of the high-level negotiations, the Russian and Japanese leaders simply could not help but touch upon the topic of the Kuril Islands. The same Abe, if he had not started a conversation on this topic, Japanese voters simply would not have understood.

As for the islands themselves, they remain Russian just as they were. And in this sense, no legal changes are planned yet.