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Russia says ‘significant differences’ with Japan over disputed islands
MOSCOW, May 10, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
said Friday there was work to be done before Moscow and Tokyo can resolve a
World War II-era dispute over a chain of islands.
Heading into talks in Moscow with Japanese counterpart Taro Kono, Lavrov
said previous discussions on the islands had allowed both sides to lay out
their arguments.
“I hope these negotiations and consultations have allowed us to better
understand the differences in our positions, though these differences are
still very significant,” Russian news agencies quoted Lavrov as saying.
The territorial dispute centres on four islands, between the Sea of Okhotsk
and the Pacific Ocean, seized by the Soviet army in the last days of World
War II.
The string of volcanic islands are called the Kurils by Russia and the
Northern Territories by Japan.
Tokyo has refused to recognise Moscow’s sovereignty there, preventing the
two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending hostilities.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Vladimir Putin have made resolving
the dispute a priority — meeting 25 times since 2013 in an effort to build
cooperation.
But both face domestic opposition to any compromise and at a meeting in
Moscow in January fell short of reaching an agreement.
Moscow has said negotiations should be based on a 1956 Soviet-Japanese
declaration which calls for the signing of a peace accord before the possible
handover of two of the smaller islands to Japan.
But giving away even uninhabited islands would be poorly received in
Russia, where World War II is hugely symbolic and post-war territorial gains
are seen as non-negotiable.
Moscow in recent months has taken further steps to consolidate its hold on
the islands, which are home to some 20,000 people.
In December Russia said it built four new military barracks in the Kurils,
prompting an angry response from Tokyo. In February it said it had laid
fibre-optic cables to provide homes and businesses there with high-speed
internet access.
BSS/AFP/RY/1548 hrs