Tokyo reiterated Moscow’s territorial claims to the Kuril Islands. The reason for this was the dissatisfaction of the Japanese because of the Russian geologists prospecting in the sea of Okhotsk. What could be of interest to professionals in the region? And why is the topic of the Kuril Islands acquired urgency because of the vote on the Constitution?
On Friday it became known that the government of Japan made the Russian idea in connection with the geological survey near the Kuril Islands in the Okhotsk sea. This was announced by the Secretary-General of the Cabinet of Ministers of Yoshihide Suga. According to him, Tokyo “follows closely the actions of the Russian Federation around the four Northern Islands” (in Japan is called the Russian island of Kunashir, Shikotan, Iturup and Habomai).
Suga said that Russia’s actions “do not coincide with the position of” Japan’s “Northern Islands” and noted that Tokyo intends to “continue negotiations with Moscow on the basis of basic positions regarding the solution of the territorial problem and conclude a peace Treaty”.
The Russian Embassy in Tokyo confirmed the receipt of such request from Japan, and recalled that the Southern Kuril Islands are under the sovereignty of Russia on legal grounds, reports TASS. A similar position was voiced in the Kremlin, adding that on its territory, Russia has the sovereign right to conduct any types of research.
Russia in the shelf zone of the Kuril Islands really engaged in the exploration and search of oil, gas and various hydrates. “And on the Islands themselves discovered deposits of gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper,” – said the newspaper LOOK Vice-President of the national Foundation “Strategic resources of Russia”, doctor of geological-mineralogical Sciences, academician of the Academy of natural Sciences Vladimir Polevanov.
“And most importantly – on the island of Iturup in the area of the volcano, Curly, is a Deposit of rare transition metal is rhenium. World consumption of this substance is only 70 tons per year, but Russia plans to start operating this field in the near future,” said Polevanov.
According to the expert, rhenium is used in missile and aircraft industry, including for the production of spare parts supersonic fighters. And due to the resistance of rhenium to chemical attack, it is used to create protective coatings against acid and alkaline environment.
“as for the complaints from Japan, it is in this case acts in the role of acting Ukrainian, only in the East.
Part of the Kurils is Russian territory, as the Crimea and Pskov oblast. We do not ask Tokyo’s permission for the conduct of activities in Pskov? And in the case of the Kuril Islands, we are not obliged to do it,” – said the source.
“Well, if��dressing on the protection of territorial integrity is enshrined in the Constitution, the delusional claims of the Japanese in General will lose the right to exist. In addition, I was surprised when the aggressor country lost world war II and convicted at the Tokyo trials, makes any territorial claims to the country-winner. We need to stop paying attention to it,” – said Polevanov.
A similar view is shared by the Governor of the Sakhalin region Valery Limarenko. Answering the question about the claims of the Eastern neighbor, the head of the region stated that the right to conduct geological work “on our site paid in the lives of our ancestors who fought for the freedom and independence of the Motherland”.
He also said that now the country is voting on constitutional amendments.
“They are, as you know, reinforce the inseparability of Russian territories. Once and for all. For this vote the residents of Sakhalin and kurilchanami. I am sure that we will support the majority of Russians. And after a few days, similar claims from abroad will be just meaningless. And we can clearly and without regard for third-party opinions say our Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands are our, our country, our future” – predicted Limarenko.
It is curious that the amendment of the inadmissibility of alienation of parts of the territory of Russia is most acutely perceived in Japan. So, in the February edition of the Hokkaido Shimbun reported that the constitutional changes could complicate negotiations on the conclusion of a peace Treaty between Moscow and Tokyo.
But in June, the Hokkaido Shimbun came to the pessimistic conclusion that the amendments will strengthen the Russian position with regards to the outcome of the Second world war, which resulted in the controversial (from the Japanese point of view) Islands were incorporated into the USSR.
On this background actions of the official Tokyo is not limited to the diplomatic representations and notes. In may, the Japanese foreign Ministry in the report “the Blue book diplomacy” claimed Tokyo to qualify for the “Northern territories”. In response, the Russian foreign Ministry said that the decision of Japan contrary to the spirit of negotiations between the countries and invited the Japanese to “return to reality”.
Earlier, foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov made clear that the conclusion of a peace Treaty with Moscow in Japan should recognize the sovereignty of Russia over Kuriles, “and then, may be to discuss everything else.”
