Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed last week to accelerate negotiations to conclude a long-pending bilateral peace treat
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed last week to accelerate negotiations to conclude a long-pending bilateral peace treaty based on the 1956 Japan-Soviet Union joint declaration. But even the return of the Habomai group and Shikotan, the smallest Russian-held islands at the center of the two countries’ territorial dispute, could be difficult for Japan to achieve, observers said.
The joint declaration stipulates that Shikotan and the Habomai islets will be handed over to Japan following the conclusion of the peace treaty, which would formally end their World War II hostilities.
The Abe-Putin agreement “means that we’re resolved to get back at least the two islands without fail,” a Japanese government source said.
Abe appeared to focus on the return of the two, setting aside for the time being Japan’s ultimate goal of also retaking Etorofu and Kunashiri. The islands were seized by Soviet troops in the closing days of World War II.
The move is believed to reflect Abe’s eagerness to resolve the territorial dispute before his last term as president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party expires in September 2021.
However, a wide gap remains between the two countries’ positions.
At a news conference in Singapore on Thursday, Putin pointed out that the 1956 joint declaration does not clarify the issue of sovereignty over Shikotan and the Habomai group — after their handover to Japan, and therefore that issue will be subject to future negotiations.
The Russian side does not regard the handover of any of the disputed islands as “retrocession,” as it insists that it acquired ownership of them as a result of the war.
