View of Iturup Island. File photoMOSCOW, Apr 22For the first time since 2003, Japan officially designated in the «Blue Book of Diplomacy» this year the «northern territories» (as the country calls the southern Kuriles) as «illegally occupied» by Russia. The Blue Book was presented to the Japanese government by Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi. It also defines the islands as «Japanese territory» for the first time since 2011.The Federation Council will discuss statements about the violation of the territorial integrity of RussiaDespite the fact that, in general, Japan's position on the islands has remained the same for decades, the wording of the «Blue Book on Diplomacy» varies depending on the «temperature» of Russian-Japanese relations. Tokyo earlier, in response to the Russian special operation in Ukraine, introduced several packages of sanctions against Moscow. US policy of pressure on its partners in an attempt to influence Russia. Peace treaty and sanctions Relations between Russia and Japan have been overshadowed by the absence of a peace treaty for many years. In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a Joint Declaration in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring Habomai and Shikotan to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty, and the fate of Kunashir and Iturup was not affected. The USSR hoped that the Joint Declaration would put an end to the dispute, while Japan considered the document only part of the solution to the problem, without abandoning claims to all the islands. Subsequent negotiations led to nothing, the peace treaty at the end of World War II was never signed. Moscow's position is that the islands became part of the Soviet Union following World War II and Russia's sovereignty over them is beyond doubt. Earlier, as a response to Tokyo's unfriendly steps due to a special operation in Ukraine, Moscow announced its refusal to negotiate on peace treaty, the termination of visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the southern Kuril Islands and the withdrawal from the dialogue on establishing joint economic activities in the region.No peace, no islands. Why Russia refused dialogue with Japan «Historically justified» The decision to refuse to discuss a peace treaty with Japan is «historically justified,» Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said earlier. «In the context of the fate of the Kuril Islands, this decision is historically justified, overdue and fair. Obviously «we would never have found any consensus with the Japanese on the island topic. Both we and they understood this before. So the negotiations on the Kuril Islands have always been of a ritual nature,» he wrote in his Telegram channel. amendments to the Russian constitution there appeared a direct indication that «the territories of our country are not subject to alienation.» In this regard, he noted, «the issue is closed.» Medvedev also noted that the negotiations have lost their meaning, since Japan, according to him, is not independent. «The Japanese themselves, following the United States, having shown themselves to be «proud independent samurai», imposed sanctions against us, which finally demonstrated with whom they would coordinate the hypothetical text of a peaceful treaties. Now these negotiations have lost all meaning. And okay, «Medvedev concluded. Special operation in UkraineRussia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, on March 25, they completed the main tasks of the first stage — they significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
