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Shikotan Island. File photoMOSCOW, March 31The appearance of the wording about the «occupation» of the southern Kuriles by Russia in the «Blue Book on Diplomacy» published by the Japanese government is associated with the ongoing policy of US pressure on its partners in an attempt to influence the Russian Federation, such steps by Tokyo prevent the signing of a peace treaty with Moscow, RIA Novosti was the first to say Deputy Head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Chepa. Earlier, the Kyodo agency, citing informed sources familiar with the text of the draft document, reported that the Japanese government in the «Blue Book on Diplomacy» for 2022 (actually covers the period from January 1 to December 31 2021) in the section about the so-called «northern territories», as Tokyo refers to the southern islands of the Kuril chain, again brought back the harsh wording that «these territories are an integral part of Japan and are currently illegally occupied by Russia».Japan has taken an anti-Russian position according to the patterns of the United States, Patrushev said «The appearance of such a wording is due to the fact that the United States continues to try to put pressure on its partners,» the politician stressed, answering the question why the wording could appear right now. The parliamentarian added that such actions are fraught with negative consequences for relations between Moscow and Tokyo, hinder the signing of a peace treaty. «We protest, such wording is unacceptable. These actions complicate the signing of a peace treaty with Japan, create tension against Moscow and Tokyo … Russia will definitely respond, I'm sure, along the line The Foreign Ministry will make appropriate decisions,» the parliamentarian stressed. Japan had previously introduced several packages of sanctions against Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow, as a response to unfriendly steps taken by Tokyo, refuses to negotiate a peace treaty with Japan, stops visa-free trips of Japanese citizens to the southern Kuril Islands, and withdraws from the dialogue with Japan on establishing joint economic activities in the southern Kuril Islands. Russia's relations Japan and Japan have been overshadowed by the absence of a peace treaty for many years. In 1956, the USSR 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.In Japan, they announced the impossibility of requisitioning the funds of the Central Bank of Russia. Subsequent negotiations led to nothing, the peace treaty at the end of World War II was never signed. Serious opposition arose from the United States, which threatened that if Japan agreed to the transfer of only two of the four islands to it, this would affect the process of returning Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty (the Agreement on the Return of Okinawa to Japan entered into force in 1972). Moscow's position is that the islands became part of the USSR following the Second World War, and the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over them is beyond doubt. In 2018, in Singapore, following a summit meeting between the leaders of Russia and Japan, the Japanese Prime Minister agreed to speed up the negotiation process on a peace treaty on the basis of the Joint Soviet-Japanese Declaration of 1956. This is a serious concession on the part of Japan, since until now its official position has been the demand for the return of the four islands, and only after that — the conclusion of a peace treaty. No world, no islands. Why Russia refused dialogue with Japan