On August 13, Dmitry Medvedev, Vice Chairman of the Russian Federal Security Council, wrote that Japan's Prime Minister Yukie Takasumi's statement that the Kuril Islands are 'Japan's inherent territory' will not change any facts.
He wrote: "No matter how insistently the Japanese Prime Minister, Koizumi, claims that the Kuril Islands have 'historically been Japanese', this statement does nothing to change facts. The islands belong to Russian territory in the past, present, and future. Anyone who fails to recognize this will pay a heavy price for their delusions."
On that day, the Russian Kremlin website reported that Russian President Putin arrived in the Kola Islands (referred to as the 'Northern Four Islands' by Japan) for a work inspection. It is reported that this was Putin's first visit to the islands.
According to the itinerary disclosed by the Kremlin, Putin inspected a fish processing factory on Ikutulpo Island (known as "Okinawa" in Japan), and tasted caviar produced locally. Subsequently, he also visited hospitals and schools on the island, and engaged in conversations with students.
On August 12th, Putin visited Sakhalin for the first time in 13 years to observe a large-scale exercise of the Russian Pacific Fleet. During the exercise, he made direct statements regarding the territorial dispute between Russia and Japan.
Putin stated that the ownership, including the South Kuriles, has been confirmed in international documents and is a "reality that emerged after the end of World War II." He also pointed out that Russia had established constructive relations with Japan, but unfortunately, Japan seems to have changed its position, and this change was not caused by Russia.
On August 13th, Governor Takahashi stated that Putin's inspection of Ituropu Island was 'unacceptable', and declared that the island is 'Japanese territory'.
It is understood that Russia and Japan have not yet concluded a peace treaty. One of the main obstacles is the issue of the ownership of the South Kuriles.
In February 1945, on the eve of Japan's defeat, the Yalta Agreement signed by the Soviet Union, the United States, and the United Kingdom stipulated that the entire Kuril Islands should be assigned to the Soviet Union.
From August 18 to September 5 of the same year, shortly after Japan announced its surrender, the Soviet army deployed approximately 23,000 troops and launched the Kuril Islands campaign. They attacked the archipelago, which housed about 80,000 Japanese troops and had well-defended fortifications. The most intense battles took place on Zhanzhao Island at the northern end of the islands, with relatively weak resistance elsewhere. In the end, the Soviet army captured nearly 60,000 Japanese soldiers at a cost of 1,567 casualties, and controlled the entire Kuril Islands.
After that, the Japanese government repeatedly relied on the treaty of 1855 to demand the return of four islands in the Kola Islands, and made this a prerequisite for signing a peace treaty with Russia. However, Moscow's position was that the Kola Islands had been incorporated into Soviet territory following the outcome of World War II, and Russia had indisputable sovereignty over them. Negotiations on this issue failed to make progress for a long time, and thus the peace treaty was never signed.
In recent years, Japan has imposed multiple sanctions against Russia due to the situation in Ukraine. On March 21, 2024, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that as a response to Japan's unfriendly actions, Russia refused to negotiate peace treaties with Japan, canceled the visa-free policy for Japanese citizens to visit the South Kuriles, and suspended exchanges related to economic cooperation with Japan on those islands.
