Russia Refuses to Give S. Kuril Islands Back to Japan
MOSCOW. June 11 (Interfax) - Russia slammed the Japanese parliament for passing draft legislation aimed at more intensive efforts for Japan to regain its sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands, which were annexed by the Soviet Union during World War II and are today part of Russia.
Russian sovereignty over the four islands is lawful and there is no chance of them being handed back to Japan, Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.
"Moscow has taken note of a vote in the lower house of the Japanese Parliament on June 11, that passed amendments to the so-called law on special measures to help solve the 'problem of the northern territories.' The ultimate purpose of the amendments is to step up efforts to achieve, as is asserted, the earliest possible 'return' to Japan of the so-called 'northern territories,' which is a reference to the South Kuril Islands. The law declares these islands to 'have always been Japanese territory,'" the statement said.
"These actions by Japan are out of place and unacceptable. It is well known that the South Kuril Islands legitimately went over to the Soviet Union and then to Russia on the basis of the results of World War II. Consequently, any 'return' of those territories has never been, is not, and cannot be considered," the document said.
"It is a bewildering fact that Tokyo has recently decided to escalate its illegitimate territorial claims on Russia. First, unacceptable statements on 'the illegal occupation of the South Kurils by Russia' were made at the highest governmental level, and now Parliament is persistently voicing the objective of 'returning' them," the statement said.
"It has not gone unnoticed for Moscow that the further development of visa-exempt exchanges with Russians living on the islands and the 'rejuvenation' of the Japanese participants of the so-called 'movement for the return of the northern territories' have been named among 'methods' of achieving the goal of 'the earliest possible return of the islands,'" it said.
"The fanning of territorial claims on Russia, with the attempt to tie visa-exempt exchanges between Russia and Japan to this, does not promote bilateral dialogue on signing a peace treaty and may impede contacts in the border regions of the two countries," the statement said.
Neither the Soviet Union nor post-Soviet Russia has signed a peace treaty with Japan to put a formal end to the Soviet-Japanese confrontation during World War II. Tokyo refuses to sign such an accord before the South Kuril dispute is resolved.
"Japan's moves that have been mentioned run against its declared desire to find a mutually acceptable solution to the problem of demarcating the border with Russia through an even-toned and mutually respectful dialogue," the statement said.
"We expect that the recent developments, as a result of the statements made by the Japanese side, will be carefully analyzed in Tokyo and that correct conclusions will be made," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
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