The statements of the head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry about the “illegal occupation“ of the Southern Kuril Islands are unacceptable, are unable to change the objective reality and sound especially cynical in the year of the 80th anniversary of the Victory, said the commentary of the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
„We consider such rhetoric unacceptable for a statesman of such a level and even more so incapable of changing the objective reality: the Southern Kuril Islands passed to the USSR, of which the Russian Federation is a successor state, on legal grounds enshrined in the post-war agreements of the Allied powers and the UN Charter“, the diplomat noted.
As Zakharova pointed out, on the eve of the memorable date of September 3, Moscow once again calls on Tokyo „to fully recognize its responsibility for the aggression deployed in Asia in the 1930s and 1940s, and sincerely apologize for the suffering caused to its peoples.“““The constant imposition by official Tokyo of false interpretations of the events of the mid-20th century that determined the fate of humanity clearly confirms the revanchist nature of modern Japan's policy“, the diplomat emphasized. “In fact, this country is the only one on the planet today that refuses to fully recognize the results of the post-war settlement, seeking to“cover up” or to cover up the numerous crimes committed by the Japanese military as part of the barbaric expansionist campaign in East Asia in the first half of the 20th century."
According to Zakharova, „the above-mentioned statements by the Japanese Foreign Minister are categorically unacceptable and sound especially cynical on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the Victory over militaristic Japan and the end of World War II, which the progressive world marks on September 3.“
Since the middle of the last century, Moscow and Tokyo have been negotiating to develop a peace agreement after World War II. The main obstacle to this remains the disagreement over the rights to the southern Kuril Islands. After the war, the entire archipelago was included in the Soviet Union, but Japan disputes ownership of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and a group of small uninhabited islands. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly emphasized that Russian sovereignty over these territories, which has the appropriate international legal basis, is not in doubt.
After Tokyo imposed anti-Russian sanctions in connection with the situation in Ukraine, Russia suspended consultations with Japan on the peace treaty. Moscow also withdrew from negotiations with Tokyo on establishing joint economic activity in the southern Kuril Islands and blocked the extension of Japan's status as a partner of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation for sectoral dialogue.