Lavrov: Russia will not give the Kuril Islands to Japan
After the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Kuril Islands are and will remain Russia’s territory.
“The sovereignty over the islands is non-negotiable. We drew attention to the fact these islands are designated as a northern territory in Japan’s legislation, which is, of course, unacceptable,” Lavrov said.
He pointed out that no peace agreement can be concluded if Japan does not recognize the results of World War II.
“I will be frank, we do have serious discrepancies. Initially, our positions were poles apart, and we have said it more than once. But the political will of our leaders to normalize relations between Russia and Japan is a stimulus to invigorate this dialogue,” Lavrov said. Lavrov spoke about the idea expressed by the special advisor for Foreign Affairs to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about expecting the US support in solving the issue of the Kuril Islands and called it “outrageous”.