The Ukrainian resistance may be the beginning of a chain reaction of restoring the territorial integrity of other states.
Shortly after Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine, it became clear that it was not as strong as it seemed, and began making calls for countries that had also suffered Russian occupation to open a second front and restore their territories. So far, only Japan is beginning to take small steps in this direction. Athletistic telling details.
Japan declared their sovereignty over the Kuril Islands
The Japanese government has decided to call the southern Kuril Islands “Japan’s native territory under illegal occupation.” The words are contained in the draft of the new issue of the Blue Book on Diplomacy, the government’s guide to the country’s foreign policy, written by the Kyodo Tsushin agency.
Japan claims four islands south of the Kuril chain, Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai. At the end of World War II, they were annexed by the Soviet Union, and the Japanese were expelled from them.
In 1956, the authorities of Japan and the USSR concluded a declaration stating that Moscow had agreed to consider the possibility of moving the two islands to Tokyo (Shikotan and Habomai, one of which was non-existent. person) after the conclusion of a peace treaty.
However, Japan then began to insist on the return of all the islands to it, so a peace agreement between the countries was not yet over. Negotiations for a peace agreement have not been successful for decades.
Until 2003, Japanese diplomacy officially called the islands “illegally occupied”, and until 2012 – “ancestral lands”. Since 2012, the government has avoided such language, hoping to reach a compromise with Russia.
Japan is ready to return to the 1956 Islands Declaration. In it, the USSR agreed to transfer the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan after the signing of a peace agreement between the two countries.
In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed at a summit in Singapore to expedite the negotiation process based on the 1956 Joint Declaration. Abe even swore at his father’s grave that he would end this issue.
In August 2020, Abe stepped down as prime minister of Japan. His place was taken over by Yoshihide Suga, who also promised to work on signing a peace agreement and resolving the Kuril issue.
However, in October 2021, Japan’s new Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, said in a debate in parliament, that Tokyo’s sovereignty extends to the southern part of the Kuril Islands.
According to the Japanese prime minister, the government plans to negotiate with Moscow to conclude a peace agreement and determine ownership of the southern Kuriles, which in Japan is called the northern territory.
“Our country’s sovereignty extends to the northern territories. We must resolve this issue without leaving it to future generations,” Kishida said.
Shortly after Russia’s massive invasion of Ukraine, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi called these territories “originally Japanese” in a speech in parliament. Then, at a separate press conference, he said they were “illegally occupied.”
After that, Moscow canceled the visa-free regime for Japanese to enter the Kuril Islands, and also withdrew from negotiations on a peace agreement with Japan and a dialogue on joint economic activity in the Kuril Islands.
A few days later, Russia conducted military exercises in Kuriles. Japanese media reported that the drills were held in the territory claimed by Tokyo.
Russia’s exercise has reportedly involved the repulsion of amphibious attacks, including the destruction of aircraft with air defenses and training of anti-tank guided missile fire control systems. Also, a set of steps were taken to “identify, identify and destroy mock enemy aircraft that will make the landing.”
On March 31, it was learned that Japan’s diplomatic handbook would state from now on that “the northern territory is an important part of Japan and is currently illegally occupied by Russia.”
The last time the Blue Book mentioned the conquest of southern Kuriles was in 2003, and Japan’s possession of the Kuril Islands was mentioned in 2011.
Last week, NSDC Secretary Aleksey Danilov said that if additional fields were opened in Nagorno-Karabakh, Kaliningrad, Georgia, Transnistria and Kuriles, it would help Ukraine repel the Russian aggression.
“The number of military personnel in Russia’s defense sector is very small now, because they sent them all here,” Danilov said.
Japan has previously imposed several packages of sanctions on Russia for its actions against Ukraine – from the beginning for recognizing the “LDNR”, then for a full -scale aggression.
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Source: korrespondent
