Four islands disputed with Japan. Sushi question. Why Russia will never give up the Southern Kuril Islands to Japan. Still, how many disputed islands are there - two or four?

Relations between Russia and Japan have intensified to such an extent that they have not yet been seen in all 60 years since the restoration of diplomatic ties between the countries. The leaders of both countries meet constantly to discuss something. What exactly?

It is publicly stated that the subject of discussion is joint economic projects, but a number of experts believe otherwise: the real reason for the meetings is the territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, which Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are busy resolving. And then the Nikkei newspaper published information that Moscow and Tokyo seem to be planning to introduce joint management of the northern territories. So what are they preparing to transfer the Kuril Islands to Japan?

The warming in relations became especially noticeable six months ago, during Shinzo Abe’s May visit to Sochi. Then the Japanese prime minister called the Russian president first name, explaining that in Japan they only address a friend this way. Another sign of friendship was Tokyo’s refusal to join economic sanctions against Russia.

Abe proposed to Putin an eight-point plan for economic cooperation in a variety of areas - industry, energy, gas sector, trade partnership. In addition, Japan is ready to invest in Russian healthcare and transport infrastructure. In general, it’s a dream, not a plan! What in return? Yes, the painful topic of the Kuril Islands was also touched upon. The parties agreed that resolving the territorial dispute is an important step towards signing a peace treaty between the countries. That is, there were no hints about the transfer of the islands. Nevertheless, the first stone in the development of a sensitive topic was laid.

The danger of angering the dragon

Since then, the leaders of Russia and Japan have met on the sidelines of international summits.

In September, during the Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Abe again promised economic cooperation, but this time he directly called on Putin to jointly solve the problem of the northern territories, which has been clouding Russian-Japanese relations for several decades.

Meanwhile, the Nikkei newspaper reported that Tokyo expects to establish joint control over the islands of Kunashir and Iturup, while hoping to eventually obtain Habomai and Shikotan in its entirety. The publication writes that Shinzo Abe should discuss this issue with Vladimir Putin during their meeting scheduled for December 15.

Nihon Kezai also wrote about the same thing: the Japanese government is discussing a project of joint management with Russia as a measure that will help move the territorial problem from a dead point. The publication even reports: there is information that Moscow has begun the process of setting goals.

And then the results of the opinion poll arrived. It turns out that more than half of the Japanese are already “ready to show flexibility in resolving the issue of the Kuril Islands.” That is, they agree that Russia should hand over not four disputed islands, but only two - Shikotan and Habomai.

Now the Japanese press writes about the transfer of the islands as a practically resolved issue. It is unlikely that information on such an important topic will be sucked out of thin air. The main question remains: is Moscow really ready to give up territories in exchange for economic cooperation with Japan and its help in the fight against sanctions?

On this topic

A resident of Ireland found a tenant in two days by posting an advertisement for apartments in exchange for sexual services. According to the property owner, such an offer should appeal to “adults.”

It is obvious that, with all the goodness of Putin’s communication with Abe, it is difficult to believe that the President of the Russian Federation, who after the annexation of Crimea gained fame as a “gatherer of Russian lands,” would agree to a soft and gradual, but still loss of territories. Moreover, the 2018 presidential elections are just around the corner. But what will happen after them?

The All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Research last conducted a survey on the transfer of the Kuril Islands in 2010. Then the overwhelming majority of Russians - 79% - were in favor of leaving the islands for Russia and stopping discussing this issue. It is unlikely that public sentiment has changed much over the past six years. If Putin really wants to go down in history, it is unlikely that he will be pleased to be associated with unpopular politicians who have already attempted to transfer the islands.

However, the lands were transferred to China, and nothing - the public remained silent.

On the other hand, the Kuril Islands are a symbol, that’s why they are popular. But if you want, you can find an explanation for anything. Moreover, there will be arguments for mass consumption. Thus, TASS Tokyo correspondent Vasily Golovnin writes: as compensation for the transfer of the Southern Kuril Islands, Japan promises to establish postal and hospital operations in Russia, at its own expense equipping clinics with equipment for early diagnosis of diseases. In addition, the Japanese intend to offer their developments in the field of clean energy, housing construction, and year-round cultivation of vegetables. So there will be something to justify the transfer of a couple of islands.

Moscow's friendship with Tokyo worries Beijing

However, there is another side to this issue. The fact is that Japan has territorial claims not only to Russia, but also to China and South Korea. In particular, Tokyo and Beijing have had a long-standing dispute over the status of an uninhabited piece of land called Okinotori. According to the Japanese version, this is an island, but China considers it rocks, which means it does not recognize Tokyo’s international right to establish a 200-mile exclusive economic zone around it. The subject of another territorial dispute is the Senkaku Archipelago in the East China Sea, 170 kilometers northeast of Taiwan. Japan has a dispute with South Korea over the ownership of the Liancourt Islands, located in the western part of the Sea of ​​Japan.

Therefore, if Russia satisfies Japan's territorial claims, a precedent will arise. And then Tokyo will begin to seek similar actions from its other neighbors. It is logical to assume that these neighbors will regard the transfer of the Kuril Islands as a “set-up.” Should we quarrel with China, our main strategic partner in Asia? Especially now, when construction of the second branch of the Russian gas pipeline to China has begun, when the Chinese are investing in our gas companies. Of course, policy diversification in Asia is a useful thing, but it requires great caution from the Kremlin.

How the Kuril Islands tried to return to Japan

Nikita Khrushchev, when he was the first secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, proposed returning to Japan the two islands lying closest to its borders. The Japanese side ratified the treaty, but Moscow changed its mind due to the increased US military presence in Japan.

The next attempt was made by the first president of Russia, Boris Yeltsin. The then Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrei Kozyrev was already preparing documents for the visit of the head of state to Japan, during which it was planned to formalize the transfer of the islands. What prevented Yeltsin’s plans? There are different versions on this matter. FSO Major General in reserve Boris Ratnikov, who from 1991 to 1994 worked as first deputy head of the Main Directorate of Security of the Russian Federation, told in an interview how his department upset Yeltsin’s visit to Japan, allegedly for security reasons. According to another version, Yeltsin was dissuaded by Anatoly Chubais, actually embodying a scene from the film “Ivan Vasilyevich Changes His Profession,” where the thief Miloslavsky throws himself at the feet of the liar with the words: “They didn’t order execution, they ordered him to say his word.”

Recently, Shinzo Abe announced that he would annex the disputed islands of the South Kuril chain to Japan. “I will solve the problem of the northern territories and conclude a peace treaty. As a politician, as a prime minister, I want to achieve this at all costs,” he promised his compatriots.

According to Japanese tradition, Shinzo Abe will have to commit hara-kiri to himself if he does not keep his word. It is quite possible that Vladimir Putin will help the Japanese prime minister live to a ripe old age and die a natural death. Photo by Alexander Vilf (Getty Images).

In my opinion, everything is heading towards the fact that the long-standing conflict will be resolved. The time for establishing decent relations with Japan has been chosen very well - for the empty, hard-to-reach lands, which their former owners now and then look nostalgically at, you can get a lot of material benefits from one of the most powerful economies in the world. And the lifting of sanctions as a condition for the transfer of the islands is far from the only and not the main concession, which, I am sure, our Foreign Ministry is now seeking.

So the quite expected surge of quasi-patriotism of our liberals, directed at the Russian president, should be prevented.

I have already had to analyze in detail the history of the islands of Tarabarov and Bolshoy Ussuriysky on the Amur, the loss of which Moscow snobs cannot come to terms with. The post also discussed a dispute with Norway over maritime territories, which was also resolved.

I also touched on the secret negotiations between human rights activist Lev Ponomarev and a Japanese diplomat about the “northern territories,” filmed and posted online. Generally speaking, this one video it is enough for our concerned citizens to bashfully swallow the return of the islands to Japan if it takes place. But since concerned citizens will definitely not remain silent, we must understand the essence of the problem.

Background

February 7, 1855— Shimoda treatise on trade and borders. The now disputed islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands were ceded to Japan (therefore, February 7 is annually celebrated in Japan as Northern Territories Day). The issue of the status of Sakhalin remained unresolved.

May 7, 1875— Petersburg Treaty. Japan was given the rights to all 18 Kuril Islands in exchange for all of Sakhalin.

August 23, 1905- Treaty of Portsmouth resultsRussian-Japanese War.Russia ceded the southern part of Sakhalin.

February 11, 1945 — Yalta conference. THE USSR, USA and UK reached a written agreement on the entry of the Soviet Union into the war with Japan, subject to the return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to it after the end of the war.

February 2, 1946 based on the Yalta agreements in the USSR The Yuzhno-Sakhalin region was created - on the territory of the southern part of the island Sakhalin and Kuril Islands. On January 2, 1947 she was merged with the Sakhalin region Khabarovsk Territory, which expanded to the borders of the modern Sakhalin region.

Japan enters the Cold War

September 8, 1951 The Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan was signed in San Francisco. Regarding the currently disputed territories, it says the following: “Japan renounces all rights, title and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the adjacent islands over which Japan acquired sovereignty under the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905.”

The USSR sent a delegation to San Francisco headed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs A.A. Gromyko. But not in order to sign a document, but to voice my position. We formulated the mentioned clause of the agreement as follows:“Japan recognizes the full sovereignty of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics over the southern part of Sakhalin Island with all the adjacent islands and the Kuril Islands and renounces all rights, title and claims to these territories.”

Of course, in our version the agreement is specific and more in line with the spirit and letter of the Yalta agreements. However, the Anglo-American version was accepted. The USSR did not sign it, Japan did.

Today, some historians believe that The USSR had to sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty in the form in which it was proposed by the Americans— this would strengthen our negotiating position. “We should have signed the agreement. I don’t know why we didn’t do this - perhaps because of vanity or pride, but above all, because Stalin overestimated his capabilities and the degree of his influence on the United States,” N.S. wrote in his memoirs .Khrushchev. But soon, as we will see further, he himself made a mistake.

From today's perspective, the absence of a signature on the notorious treaty is sometimes considered almost a diplomatic failure. However, the international situation at that time was much more complex and was not limited to the Far East. Perhaps what seems like a loss to someone, in those conditions became a necessary measure.

Japan and sanctions

It is sometimes mistakenly believed that since we do not have a peace treaty with Japan, then we are in a state of war. However, this is not at all true.

December 12, 1956 An exchange ceremony took place in Tokyo to mark the entry into force of the Joint Declaration. According to the document, the USSR agreed to “the transfer to Japan of the islands of Habomai and the island of Shikotan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan.”

The parties came to this formulation after several rounds of long negotiations. Japan's initial proposal was simple: a return to Potsdam - that is, the transfer of all the Kuril Islands and South Sakhalin to it. Of course, such a proposal from the side that lost the war looked somewhat frivolous.

The USSR was not going to give up an inch, but unexpectedly for the Japanese, they suddenly offered Habomai and Shikotan. This was a fallback position, approved by the Politburo, but declared prematurely - the head of the Soviet delegation, Ya. A. Malik, was acutely worried about N. S. Khrushchev’s dissatisfaction with him due to the protracted negotiations. On August 9, 1956, during a conversation with his counterpart in the garden of the Japanese Embassy in London, the fallback position was announced. It was this that was included in the text of the Joint Declaration.

It is necessary to clarify that the influence of the United States on Japan at that time was enormous (as it is now). They carefully monitored all its contacts with the USSR and, undoubtedly, were a third party to the negotiations, albeit invisible.

At the end of August 1956, Washington threatened Tokyo that if, under a peace treaty with the USSR, Japan renounces its claims to Kunashir and Iturup, the United States would forever retain the occupied island of Okinawa and the entire Ryukyu archipelago. The note contained wording that clearly played on the national feelings of the Japanese: “The US government has come to the conclusion that the islands of Iturup and Kunashir (along with the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, which are part of Hokkaido) have always been part of Japan and should rightly be considered as belonging to Japan " That is, the Yalta agreements were publicly disavowed.

The ownership of the “northern territories” of Hokkaido, of course, is a lie - on all military and pre-war Japanese maps, the islands were always part of the Kuril ridge and were never designated separately. However, I liked the idea. It was on this geographical absurdity that entire generations of politicians in the Land of the Rising Sun made their careers.

The peace treaty has not yet been signed; in our relations we are guided by the Joint Declaration of 1956.

Price issue

I think that even in the first term of his presidency, Vladimir Putin decided to resolve all controversial territorial issues with his neighbors. Including with Japan. In any case, back in 2004, Sergei Lavrov formulated the position of the Russian leadership: “We have always fulfilled and will fulfill our obligations, especially ratified documents, but, of course, to the extent that our partners are ready to fulfill the same agreements . So far, as we know, we have not been able to come to an understanding of these volumes as we see it and as we saw in 1956.”

“Until Japan’s ownership of all four islands is clearly determined, a peace treaty will not be concluded,” responded then-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The negotiation process has again reached a dead end.

However, this year we again remembered the peace treaty with Japan.

In May, at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin said that Russia is ready to negotiate with Japan on the disputed islands, and the solution should be a compromise. That is, neither party should feel like a loser. “Are you ready to negotiate? Yes, we are ready. But we were surprised to hear recently that Japan has joined some kind of sanctions - what does Japan have to do with this, I don’t really understand - and is suspending the negotiation process on this topic. So, are we ready, is Japan ready, I still haven’t figured it out for myself,” said the Russian President.

It looks like the pain point has been found correctly. And the negotiation process (hopefully, this time in offices tightly closed from American ears) has been in full swing for at least six months. Otherwise, Shinzo Abe would not have made such promises.

If we fulfill the terms of the 1956 Joint Declaration and return the two islands to Japan, 2,100 people will have to be resettled. They all live on Shikotan; only the border post is located on Habomai. Most likely, the problem of our armed forces being on the islands is being discussed. However, for complete control over the region, the troops stationed on Sakhalin, Kunashir and Iturup are quite sufficient.

Another question is what kind of reciprocal concessions we expect from Japan. It is clear that sanctions must be lifted - this is not even discussed. Perhaps access to credit and technology, increased participation in joint projects? It's possible.

Be that as it may, Shinzo Abe faces a difficult choice. The conclusion of a long-awaited peace treaty with Russia, flavored with the “northern territories,” would certainly make him the politician of the century in his homeland. It will inevitably lead to tension in Japan's relations with the United States. I wonder what the Prime Minister will prefer.

But we will somehow survive the internal Russian tension that our liberals will fan.

The Habomai Island group is labeled "Other Islands" on this map. These are a few white spots between Shikotan and Hokkaido.
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The dispute between Russia and Japan over the ownership of the Southern Kuril Islands has been going on for several decades. Due to the unresolved nature of this issue, a peace treaty has not yet been signed between the two countries. Why are the negotiations so difficult and is there a chance to find an acceptable solution that would suit both parties, the portal site found out.

Political maneuver

“We have been negotiating for seventy years. Shinzo said: "Let's change approaches." Let's. So this is the idea that came to my mind: let’s conclude a peace treaty - not now, but before the end of the year - without any preconditions.”

This remark by Vladimir Putin at the Vladivostok Economic Forum caused a stir in the media. Japan's response, however, was predictable: Tokyo is not ready to make peace without resolving the territorial issue due to a variety of circumstances. Any politician who records in an international treaty even a hint of renunciation of claims to the so-called northern territories risks losing the elections and ending his political career.

Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in the plenary session “The Far East: Expanding the Boundaries of Possibilities” of the IV Eastern Economic Forum (EEF-2018). From left to right - TV presenter, Deputy Director of the Rossiya TV Channel, President of the Bering-Bellingshausen Institute for the Study of the Americas Sergei Brilev, Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, Chairman of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, from right to left - Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Lee Nak Yong and President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga

For decades, Japanese journalists, politicians and scientists explained to the nation that the issue of returning the South Kuril Islands for the Land of the Rising Sun was fundamental, and in the end they explained it. Now, with any political maneuver on the Russian front, the Japanese elites must take into account the notorious territorial problem.

It is clear why Japan wants to get the four southern islands of the Kuril chain. But why doesn’t Russia want to give them up?

From merchants to military bases

The wider world did not suspect the existence of the Kuril Islands until approximately the middle of the 17th century. The Ainu people who lived on them once inhabited all the Japanese islands, but under the pressure of invaders who arrived from the mainland - the ancestors of the future Japanese - they were gradually destroyed or driven north - to Hokkaido, the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin.

In 1635–1637, a Japanese expedition explored the southernmost islands of the Kuril ridge; in 1643, the Dutch explorer Martin de Vries explored Iturup and Urup and declared the latter the property of the Dutch East India Company. Five years later, the northern islands were discovered by Russian merchants. In the 18th century, the Russian government took up the exploration of the Kuril Islands in earnest.

Russian expeditions reached the very south, mapped Shikotan and Habomai, and soon Catherine II issued a decree that all the Kuril Islands as far as Japan were Russian territory. The European powers took note. At that time, no one except themselves cared about the opinion of the Japanese.

Three islands - the so-called Southern group: Urup, Iturup and Kunashir - as well as the Lesser Kuril ridge - Shikotan and numerous uninhabited islands next to it, which the Japanese call Habomai - found themselves in a gray zone. The Russians did not build fortifications or garrison there, and the Japanese were mainly occupied with the colonization of Hokkaido. Only on February 7, 1855, the first border treaty, the Shimoda Treaty, was signed between Russia and Japan.

According to its terms, the border between Japanese and Russian possessions passed along the Frieze Strait - ironically named after the same Dutch navigator who tried to declare the islands Dutch. Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai went to Japan, Urup and the islands further north to Russia. In 1875, the Japanese were given the entire ridge up to Kamchatka in exchange for the southern part of Sakhalin; 30 years later, Japan regained it as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, which Russia lost.

During World War II, Japan was one of the Axis powers, but there was no hostilities between the Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan for most of the conflict, as the parties signed a non-aggression pact in 1941. However, on April 6, 1945, the USSR, fulfilling its allied obligations, warned Japan about the denunciation of the pact, and in August declared war on it. Soviet troops occupied all the Kuril Islands, on the territory of which the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Region was created.

But in the end, things did not come to a peace treaty between Japan and the USSR. The Cold War began, and relations between the former allies became tense. Japan, occupied by American troops, automatically found itself on the side of the Western bloc in the new conflict. Under the terms of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, which the Union refused to sign for a number of reasons, Japan confirmed the return of all the Kuril Islands to the USSR - except Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai.

Five years later, there seemed to be a prospect of lasting peace: the USSR and Japan adopted the Moscow Declaration, which ended the state of war. The Soviet leadership then expressed its readiness to give Japan Shikotan and Habomai, provided that it withdraws its claims to Iturup and Kunashir.

But in the end everything fell through. The states threatened Japan that if they signed an agreement with the Soviet Union, they would not return the Ryukyu Archipelago to it. In 1960, Tokyo and Washington entered into an agreement on mutual cooperation and security guarantees, which contained the provision that the United States had the right to station troops of any size in Japan and create military bases - and after that Moscow categorically abandoned the idea of ​​a peace treaty.

If earlier the USSR maintained the illusion that by ceding Japan it was possible to normalize relations with it, transferring it to the category of at least relatively neutral countries, now the transfer of the islands meant that American military bases would soon appear on them. As a result, the peace treaty was never concluded - and has not yet been concluded.

Dashing 1990s

Soviet leaders up to Gorbachev did not recognize the existence of a territorial problem in principle. In 1993, already under Yeltsin, the Tokyo Declaration was signed, in which Moscow and Tokyo indicated their intention to resolve the issue of ownership of the Southern Kuril Islands. In Russia this was received with considerable concern, in Japan, on the contrary, with enthusiasm.

The northern neighbor was going through difficult times, and in the Japanese press of that time one can find the most insane projects - up to the purchase of islands for a large sum, fortunately the then Russian leadership was ready to make endless concessions to Western partners. But in the end, both Russian fears and Japanese hopes turned out to be groundless: within a few years, Russia’s foreign policy course was adjusted in favor of greater realism, and there was no longer talk of transferring the Kuril Islands.

In 2004, the issue suddenly surfaced again. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow, as a successor state of the USSR, is ready to resume negotiations on the basis of the Moscow Declaration - that is, sign a peace treaty and then, as a gesture of goodwill, give Shikotan and Habomai to Japan. The Japanese did not compromise, and already in 2014 Russia completely returned to Soviet rhetoric, declaring that it had no territorial dispute with Japan.

Moscow's position is completely transparent, understandable and explainable. This is the position of the strong: it is not Russia that demands something from Japan - quite the contrary, the Japanese are putting forward claims that they cannot back up either militarily or politically. Accordingly, on the part of Russia we can only talk about a gesture of goodwill - and nothing more. Economic relations with Japan are developing as usual, the islands do not affect them in any way, and the transfer of the islands will not speed them up or slow them down in any way.

At the same time, the transfer of islands may entail a number of consequences, and their magnitude depends on which islands will be transferred.

Closed sea, open sea

“This is a success that Russia has been moving toward for many years... In terms of the volume of reserves, these territories are a real Ali Baba’s cave, access to which opens up enormous opportunities and prospects for the Russian economy... The inclusion of the enclave in the Russian shelf establishes Russia’s exclusive rights to subsoil resources and the seabed enclave, including fishing for sessile species, that is, crab, shellfish, and so on, and also extends Russian jurisdiction to the territory of the enclave in terms of requirements for fishing, safety, and environmental protection.”

This is how Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Sergei Donskoy commented in 2013 on the news that a UN subcommittee had decided to recognize the Sea of ​​Okhotsk as an inland sea of ​​Russia.

Until that moment, in the very center of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk there was an enclave stretching from north to south with an area of ​​52 thousand square meters. km, for its characteristic shape received the name “Peanut Hole”. The fact is that the 200-mile special economic zone of Russia did not reach the very center of the sea - thus, the waters there were considered international and vessels of any state could fish for marine animals and mine mineral resources there. After the UN subcommittee approved the Russian application, the sea became completely Russian.

This story had many heroes: scientists who proved that the seabed in the Peanut Hole area was the continental shelf, diplomats who managed to defend Russian claims, and others. Japan presented a surprise during the UN vote: Tokyo was one of the first to support the Russian application. This gave rise to a lot of rumors that Russia was ready to make concessions on the Kuril Islands in exchange, but they remained rumors.

What will happen to the status of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk if Russia gives Japan two islands - Shikotan and Habomai? Absolutely nothing. None of them are washed by its waters, therefore, no changes are expected. But if Moscow also gives up Kunashir and Iturup to Tokyo, then the situation will no longer be so clear.

The distance between Kunashir and Sakhalin is less than 400 nautical miles, that is, the special economic zone of Russia completely covers the south of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. But from Sakhalin to Urup there are already 500 nautical miles: a corridor leading to the “Peanut Hole” is formed between the two parts of the economic zone. It is difficult to predict what consequences this will entail.

At the border the seiner walks gloomily

A similar situation is developing in the military sphere. Kunashir is separated from Japanese Hokkaido by the Izmena and Kunashir straits; between Kunashir and Iturup lies the Catherine Strait, between Iturup and Urup there is the Frieza Strait. Now the Ekaterina and Frieze straits are under full Russian control, Izmena and Kunashirsky are under surveillance. Not a single enemy submarine or ship will be able to enter the Sea of ​​Okhotsk through the islands of the Kuril ridge unnoticed, while Russian submarines and ships can safely exit through the deep-sea straits of Catherine and Frieza.

If two islands are transferred to Japan, it will be more difficult for Russian ships to use the Catherine Strait; in the event of the transfer of four, Russia will completely lose control over the Izmena, Kunashirsky and Ekaterina straits and will only be able to monitor the Frieze Strait. Thus, a hole will form in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk protection system that will be impossible to fill.

The economy of the Kuril Islands is tied primarily to fish production and processing. There is no economy on Habomai due to the lack of population; on Shikotan, where about 3 thousand people live, there is a fish canning factory. Of course, if these islands are transferred to Japan, they will have to decide the fate of the people living on them and the enterprises, and this decision will not be easy.

But if Russia gives up Iturup and Kunashir, the consequences will be much greater. Now about 15 thousand people live on these islands, active infrastructure construction is underway, and an international airport opened on Iturup in 2014. But most importantly, Iturup is rich in minerals. In particular, there is the only economically viable deposit of rhenium, one of the rarest metals. Before the collapse of the USSR, Russian industry received it from the Kazakh Dzhezkazgan, and the deposit on the Kudryaviy volcano is a chance to completely end dependence on rhenium imports.

Thus, if Russia gives Japan Habomai and Shikotan, it will lose part of its territory and suffer relatively small economic losses; if in addition it gives up Iturup and Kunashir, it will suffer much more, both economically and strategically. But in any case, you can only give when the other side has something to offer in return. Tokyo has nothing to offer yet.

Russia wants peace - but with a strong, peace-loving and friendly Japan pursuing an independent foreign policy. In the current conditions, when experts and politicians are talking more and more loudly about a new Cold War, the ruthless logic of confrontation comes into play again: giving up Habomai and Shikotan, not to mention Kunashir and Iturup, to Japan, which supports anti-Russian sanctions and maintains American bases on its territory, Russia risks simply losing the islands without receiving anything in return. It is unlikely that Moscow is ready to do this.

On the issue of Japan's claims to our Kuril Islands

Japanese politicians time after time “press the pedal”, initiating conversations with Moscow on the subject that, supposedly, “it’s time to return the Northern Territories to the Japanese masters.”

Previously, we did not particularly react to this hysteria from Tokyo, but now, it seems, we need to respond.

To begin with, a picture with text that represents better than any analytical articles Japan's real position at the time she was winner Russia. Now they are whining begging, but as soon as they feel their strength, they immediately begin to play “king of the hill”:

Japan took away a hundred years ago our Russian lands- half of Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands as a result of Russia’s defeat in the 1905 war. From those times, the famous song “On the Hills of Manchuria” remained, which in Russia still reminds of the bitterness of that defeat.

However, times have changed, and Japan itself has become defeatist in the Second World War, which personally started against China, Korea and other Asian countries. And, overestimating its strength, Japan even attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor in December 1941 - after which the United States entered the war against Japan and its ally Hitler. Yes Yes, Japan was Hitler's ally but somehow little is remembered about that today. Why? Who has become displeased with History in the West?

As a result of its own military disaster, Japan signed the "Act of unconditional surrender"(!), where in text It is clearly stated that “We hereby undertake that the Japanese Government and its successors will faithfully implement the terms and conditions.” Potsdam Declaration" And in that “ Potsdam Declaration» clarified that « Japanese sovereignty will be limited to the islands Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and those smaller islands that we will indicate" And where are the “northern territories” that the Japanese demand “back” from Moscow? In general, what territorial claims to Russia can be discussed in Japan, which deliberately committed aggression in alliance with Hitler?

– Having a purely negative attitude towards any transfer of any islands to Japan, it is still necessary to clarify for the sake of fairness: the tactics of recent years, which are perfectly clear to professionals, are as follows - do not outright deny what was promised by the previous authorities, talk only about fidelity to the Declaration of 1956, that is only about Habomai and Shikotan, thereby excluding from the problem Kunashir and Iturup, which appeared under pressure from Japan in the negotiations in the mid-90s, and, finally, to accompany the words about “loyalty” to the Declaration with such formulations that today do not coincide with the position of Japan.

– The declaration assumed first the conclusion of a peace treaty and only then the “transfer” of the two islands. The transfer is an act of good will, a willingness to dispose of one’s own territory “meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state.” Japan insists that the “return” precede the peace treaty, because the very concept of “return” is a recognition of the illegality of their belonging to the USSR, which is is a revision not only of the results of the Second World War, but also of the principle of the inviolability of these results.

– Satisfying Japanese claims to “return” the islands would mean directly undermining the principle of the non-dispute of the results of World War II and would open up the possibility of questioning other aspects of the territorial status quo.

– “Complete and unconditional surrender” of Japan is fundamentally different from simple surrender due to legal, political and historical consequences. A simple “surrender” means an admission of defeat in hostilities and does not affect the international legal personality of the defeated power, no matter what losses it may have suffered. Such a state retains its sovereignty and legal personality and itself, as a legal party, negotiates peace terms. “Complete and unconditional surrender” means the cessation of the existence of a subject of international relations, the dismantling of the former state as a political institution, the loss of sovereignty and all powers that pass to the victorious powers, which themselves determine the conditions of peace and the post-war order and settlement.

– In the case of “complete and unconditional surrender” with Japan, then Japan retained the former emperor, which is used to claim that Japan's legal personality was not interrupted. However, in reality, the source of maintaining imperial power is different - it is will and decision of the Winners.

– US Secretary of State J. Byrnes pointed out to V. Molotov: “Japan’s position does not stand up to criticism that it cannot consider itself bound by the Yalta agreements, since it was not a party to them.” Today's Japan is a post-war state, and a settlement can only come from the post-war international legal framework, especially since only this basis has legal force.

– The “Soviet-Japanese Declaration of October 19, 1956” recorded the USSR’s readiness to “transfer” the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan, but only after the conclusion of the Peace Treaty. It's about not about “return”, but about “transfer”, that is, the readiness to dispose as act of goodwill its territory, which does not create a precedent for revising the results of the war.

– The United States exerted direct pressure on Japan during the Soviet-Japanese negotiations in 1956 and did not stop before ultimatum: The United States stated that if Japan signs a “Peace Treaty” with the USSR, in which it agrees to recognize South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands as part of the territory of the USSR, " The United States will forever retain its possession of the Ryukyu Islands."(Okinawa).

– Signing of the “Soviet-Japanese Declaration”, according to the reckless plan of N. Khrushchev, was supposed to keep Japan from concluding a military cooperation agreement with the United States. However, such an agreement between Tokyo and Washington followed on January 19, 1960, and according to it it was enshrined unlimited presence of American armed forces on Japanese territory.

- On January 27, 1960, the Soviet government announced “a change in circumstances” and warned that “only subject to the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Japanese territory and the signing of a Peace Treaty between the USSR and Japan, the islands of Habomai and Shikotan will be transferred to Japan.”

Here are some thoughts about Japanese “wants”.

Kuril Islands: not four naked islands

Lately, the “question” of the Southern Kuril Islands has been discussed again. The media of mass disinformation are fulfilling the task of the current government - to convince the people that we do not need these islands. The obvious is being hushed up: after the transfer of the Southern Kuril Islands to Japan, Russia will lose a third of its fish, our Pacific Fleet will be locked up and will not have free access to the Pacific Ocean, the entire border system in the east of the country will need to be reviewed, etc. I, a geologist who worked in the Far East, Sakhalin for 35 years, and who visited the South Kuril Islands more than once, am especially outraged by the lie about the “four bare islands” supposedly representing the South Kuril Islands.

Let's start with the fact that the Southern Kuril Islands are not 4 islands. They include Fr. Kunashir, O. Iturup And all islands of the Lesser Kuril ridge. The latter includes Fr. Shikotan(182 sq. km), o. Green(69 sq. km), o. Polonsky(15 sq. km), o. Tanfilyeva(8 sq. km), o. Yuri(7 sq. km), o. Anuchina(3 sq. km) and many smaller islands: o. Demina, O. Shards, O. Sentry, O. Signal and others. And to the island Shikotan usually include islands Griga And Aivazovsky. The total area of ​​the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge is about 300 square meters. km, and all the islands of the South Kuril Islands - more than 8500 sq. km. What the Japanese, and after them “our” democrats and some diplomats, call an island Habo mai, is about 20 islands.

The subsoil of the Southern Kuril Islands contains a large complex of minerals. Its leading elements are gold and silver, deposits of which have been explored on the island. Kunashir. Here, at the Prasolovskoye field, in some areas the content gold reaches a kilogram or more, silver– up to 5 kg per ton of rock. The predicted resources of the North Kunashir ore cluster alone are 475 tons of gold and 2160 tons of silver (these and many other figures are taken from the book “Mineral resource base of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands at the turn of the third millennium” published last year by the Sakhalin book publishing house). But, besides Fr. Kunashir, other islands of the Southern Kuril Islands are also promising for gold and silver.

In the same Kunashir, polymetallic ores are known (Valentinovskoye deposit), in which the content zinc reaches 14%, copper – up to 4%, gold– up to 2 g/t, silver– up to 200 g/t, barium– up to 30%, strontium- until 3 %. Reserves zinc amount to 18 thousand tons, copper– 5 thousand tons. On the islands of Kunashir and Iturup there are several ilmenite-magnetite placers with high content gland(up to 53%), titanium(up to 8%) and increased concentrations vanadium. Such raw materials are suitable for the production of high-grade vanadium cast iron. At the end of the 60s, Japan offered to buy Kuril ilmenite-magnetite sands. Is it because of the high vanadium content? But in those years, not everything was bought and sold; there were values ​​more valuable than money, and transactions were not always accelerated by bribes.

Of particular note are the recently discovered rich ore accumulations in the Southern Kuril Islands. Rhenia, which is used for parts of supersonic aircraft and missiles, protects the metal from corrosion and wear. These ores are modern volcanic debris. The ore continues to accumulate. It is estimated that only one Kudryavy volcano on the island. Iturup carries out 2.3 tons of rhenium per year. In some places the ore content of this valuable metal reaches 200 g/t. Will we also give it to the Japanese?

Among non-metallic minerals, we will highlight deposits sulfur. Nowadays this raw material is one of the most scarce in our country. Deposits of volcanic sulfur have long been known in the Kuril Islands. The Japanese developed it in many places. Soviet geologists explored and prepared for development a large deposit of Novoe sulfur. In only one of its sections - Western - industrial reserves of sulfur amount to more than 5 million tons. On the islands of Iturup and Kunashir there are many smaller deposits that can attract entrepreneurs. In addition, some geologists consider the area of ​​the Lesser Kuril Ridge to be promising for oil and gas.

In the Southern Kuril Islands there are very scarce in the country and very valuable thermomineral waters. The most famous of them are the Hot Beach springs, in which waters with a high content of silicic and boric acids have a temperature of up to 100 o C. There is a hydropathic clinic here. Similar waters are found in the North Mendeleev and Chaykin springs on the island. Kunashir, as well as in a number of places on the island. Iturup.

Who hasn’t heard about the thermal waters of the Southern Kuril Islands? In addition to being a tourist site, it is thermal energy raw materials, the importance of which has recently increased due to the ongoing energy crisis in the Far East and the Kuril Islands. So far, geothermal hydroelectric power stations using underground heat operate only in Kamchatka. But it is possible and necessary to develop high-potential coolants - volcanoes and their derivatives - on the Kuril Islands. By now on about. In Kunashir, the Hot Beach steam hydrothermal deposit has been explored, which can provide heat and hot water to the city of Yuzhno-Kurilsk (partially the steam-water mixture is used to supply heat to a military unit and state farm greenhouses). On about. Iturup has explored a similar deposit – Okeanskoye.

It is also important that the Southern Kuril Islands are a unique testing ground for studying geological processes, volcanism, ore formation, studying giant waves (tsunamis), and seismicity. There is no other such scientific site in Russia. And science, as you know, is a productive force, the fundamental basis for the development of any society.

And how can one call the Southern Kuril Islands “bare islands” if they are covered with almost subtropical vegetation, where there are many medicinal herbs and berries (aralia, lemongrass, redberry), the rivers are rich red fish(chum salmon, pink salmon, masu salmon), fur seals, sea lions, seals, sea otters live on the coast, the shallow water is strewn with crabs, shrimp, sea cucumbers, and scallops?

Isn’t all of the above known in the government, in the Russian Embassy in Japan, and in “our” democrats? I think that discussions about the possibility of transferring the Southern Kuril Islands to Japan - not from stupidity, but from meanness. Some figures like Zhirinovsky propose to sell our islands to Japan and name specific amounts. Russia sold Alaska cheaply, also considering the peninsula “land of no use to anyone.” And now the United States gets a third of its oil, more than half of its gold, and much more from Alaska. So go cheap anyway, gentlemen!

How Russia and Japan will divide the Kuril Islands. We answer eight naive questions about the disputed islands

Moscow and Tokyo, perhaps closer than ever to solving the problem of the South Kuril Islands - this is what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe thinks. For his part, Vladimir Putin explained that Russia is ready to discuss this issue only on the basis of the Soviet-Japanese declaration of 1956 - according to it, the USSR agreed to hand over to Japan only two the smallest South Kuril Islands - Shikotan and I am coming Habomai. But he left behind large and inhabited islands Iturup And Kunashir.

Will Russia agree to the treaty and where did the “Kuril issue” come from? A senior researcher at the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences helped Komsomolskaya Pravda to figure out. Victor Kuzminkov.

1. Why do the Japanese even lay claim to the Kuril Islands? After all, they abandoned them after World War II?

– Indeed, in 1951 the San Francisco Peace Treaty was concluded, where it was stated that Japan refuses from all claims to the Kuril Islands, agrees Kuzminkov. - But a few years later, in order to get around this point, the Japanese began to call the four islands - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai - northern territories and deny that they belong to the Kuril ridge (and, on the contrary, they belong to the island of Hokkaido). Although on pre-war Japanese maps they were designated precisely as the Southern Kuril Islands.

2. Still, how many disputed islands are there – two or four?

– Now Japan lays claim to all four of the above-mentioned islands; in 1855, the border between Russia and Japan passed along them. But immediately after World War II - both in San Francisco in 1951 and in 1956 at the signing of the Soviet-Japanese Declaration - Japan disputed only Shikotan and Habomai. At that time, they recognized Iturup and Kunashir as the Southern Kuriles. It is precisely about returning to the positions of the 1956 declaration that Putin and Abe are now talking about.

“Joint farming in the Kuril Islands was discussed, but I believe that this is a stillborn project,” the expert commented. – Japan will demand preferences that will call into question Russia’s sovereignty in these territories.

Likewise, the Japanese are not ready to agree to lease the islands from Russia (this idea has also been voiced) - they consider the northern territories to be their ancestral land.

In my opinion, the only real option today is to sign a peace treaty, which means little for both countries. And the subsequent creation of a border delimitation commission, which will sit for at least 100 years, but will not come to any decision.

HELP "KP"

The total population of the South Kuril Islands is about 17 thousand people.

Island group Habomai(more than 10 islands) – uninhabited.

On the island Shikotan– 2 villages: Malokurilskoye and Krabozavodskoye. There is a cannery. During the Soviet years it was one of the largest in the USSR. But now little remains of its former power.

On the island Iturup– the city of Kurilsk (1600 people) and 7 villages. In 2014, the Iturup International Airport was opened here.

On the island Kunashir– the village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk (7,700 people) and 6 smaller villages. There is a geothermal power plant and more than a hundred military installations here.

One of the first documents regulating Russian-Japanese relations was the Treaty of Shimoda, signed on January 26, 1855. According to the second article of the treatise, the border was established between the islands of Urup and Iturup - that is, all four now islands that Japan claims today were recognized as the possession of Japan.

Since 1981, the day of the conclusion of the Shimoda Treaty in Japan has been celebrated as “Northern Territories Day”. Another thing is that, relying on the Shimoda Treaty as one of the fundamental documents, Japan forgets about one important point. In 1904, Japan, having attacked the Russian squadron in Port Arthur and unleashed the Russo-Japanese War, itself violated the terms of the treaty, which provided for friendship and good neighborly relations between states.

The Shimoda Treaty did not determine the ownership of Sakhalin, where both Russian and Japanese settlements were located, and by the mid-70s a solution to this issue was ripe. The St. Petersburg Treaty was signed, which was assessed ambiguously by both sides. Under the terms of the agreement, all the Kuril Islands were now completely transferred to Japan, and Russia received full control over Sakhalin.

Then, as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, according to the Treaty of Portsmouth, the southern part of Sakhalin up to the 50th parallel went to Japan.

In 1925, a Soviet-Japanese convention was signed in Beijing, which generally confirmed the terms of the Portsmouth Treaty. As you know, the late 30s and early 40s were extremely tense in Soviet-Japanese relations and were associated with a series of military conflicts of varying scales.

The situation began to change by 1945, when the Axis powers began to suffer heavy defeats and the prospect of losing World War II became increasingly clear. Against this background, the question of the post-war world order arose. Thus, according to the terms of the Yalta Conference, the USSR pledged to enter the war against Japan, and Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were transferred to the Soviet Union.

True, at the same time the Japanese leadership was ready to voluntarily cede these territories in exchange for the neutrality of the USSR and the supply of Soviet oil. The USSR did not take such a very slippery step. The defeat of Japan by that time was not a quick matter, but it was still a matter of time. And most importantly, by avoiding decisive action, the Soviet Union would actually be handing the situation in the Far East into the hands of the United States and its allies.

By the way, this also applies to the events of the Soviet-Japanese War and the Kuril Landing Operation itself, which was not initially prepared. When it became known about the preparations for the landing of American troops on the Kuril Islands, the Kuril landing operation was urgently prepared within 24 hours. Fierce fighting in August 1945 ended with the surrender of the Japanese garrisons in the Kuril Islands.

Fortunately, the Japanese command did not know the real number of Soviet paratroopers and, without fully using their overwhelming numerical superiority, capitulated. At the same time, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin offensive operation was carried out. Thus, at the cost of considerable losses, Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands became part of the USSR.