NEW YORK, September 2. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to find a solution to the Kuril Islands’ issue. He made this statement in an interview to Bloomberg agency published on Thursday.
- Tokyo to allow Russians to stay on Southern Kurils if Russia gives them to Japan
- Russian Defense Ministry to discuss deploying troops on Kuril Islands
- There are no obstacles to deployment of Pacific Fleet base in Kurils — source
- Lavrov: World War II put an end to Kuril Islands transfer story
- Japan concerned over possible set-up of Russian Pacific Fleet base in Kurils
- Putin expects compromise on disputed Kuril Islands will be found one day
According to the agency, Putin believes that resolving the conflict over the four islands should be part of "setting the stage for the development of inter-governmental relations for the long term." "We’re not talking about some exchange or some sale, we are talking about finding a solution where neither of the parties would feel defeated or a loser," Bloomberg quotes Putin.
According to the agency, Putin said that "we don’t trade in territories," and Russia "would very much like to find a solution to this problem with our Japanese friends." If it "can reach a similarly high level of trust" with Japan as it now enjoys with China "then we can find some sort of compromise," he said.
Russia and Japan have no peace treaty signed after World War II. Settlement of the problem inherited by Russia’s diplomacy from the Soviet Union is hampered by the years-long dispute over the four islands of Russia’s Southern Kurils - Shikotan, Khabomai, Iturup and Kunashir, which Japan calls its Northern Territories.
After World War II, in September 1945, Japan signed the capitulation, and in February 1946, the Kuril Islands were declared territories of the Soviet Union. In 1956, a joint declaration was signed ending the state of war between the USSR and Japan, but no peace treaty was signed.