Kuril islands dispute

Seventy-five years after the fighting stopped, Russia and Japan could at last officially end WWII after Tokyo expressed hope that talks might continue despite Moscow’s refusal to hand over a disputed Pacific Ocean archipelago.

Yoshihide Suga, Japan’s new prime minister, has told his country’s parliament that an end to its long-running territorial row with Russia might soon be in sight, potentially signaling closer ties between the two nations.

The US’ decision to label residents of the disputed Kuril Islands as Japanese is a “very strange and irregular” move, former Australian diplomat Gregory Clark has told RT, adding it shows “rampant revisionism” on the US’ part.

The absence of a peace treaty after WWII remains a major issue in Russian-Japanese relations. While no solution has yet been found, Moscow would be happy to call it a draw, President Vladimir Putin said.

Moscow said Tokyo is ignoring the outcome of World War II, after Japan’s official map for its upcoming 2020 Olympic Games marked the Russia-controlled Kuril Islands as its own territory.

The Russian Foreign Ministry has lodged an official protest with the Japanese embassy after Tokyo showed the South Kuril Islands – Russia’s sovereign territory – as Japanese in various media materials at the latest G20 summit.