MOSCOW, May 27 — RIA Novosti. Recognition of the southern Kurils as «illegally occupied» deprives Japan of the chance to conclude a peace treaty with Russia and further discuss the territorial issue, decided in an interview with Diplomat, political scientist at the Rand Corporation’s research center, Jeffrey Hornung.
As previously reported by the Kyodo agency, Japan for the first time since 2003, officially in the «Blue Book of Diplomacy» for 2022 «northern territories» (this is what the country calls the southern Kuryle) as «illegally occupied» Russia. For the first time since 2011, the document also included a definition that the islands were «Japanese territory».
«This, along with Russia’s refusal to negotiate peace with Japan because of the country’s hostile position, deprives it of a chance to conclude a treaty or resolve the territorial issue,» Hornung said.
