TOKYO, Jan 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The leaders of Japan and Russia hold
crunch summit talks on Tuesday, with the two countries locked in an
undiplomatic war of words over a set of disputed islands.
Simmering tension between Moscow and Tokyo over the islands has ramped up
in recent weeks, with Russia angrily accusing Japan of whipping up tension
ahead of the summit and failing to accept it lost World War II.
Setting the tone for the talks, Putin’s foreign policy advisor Yuri Ushakov
admitted the meeting would “not be easy.”
The Russian army claimed the four islands in the closing days of World War
II and a dispute over their sovereignty prevented the two countries signing a
peace treaty — a situation both countries have vowed to rectify.
The islands, off the northern coast of Japan’s northernmost island of
Hokkaido, are known as the southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern
Territories in Japan.
During a New Year address, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sparked
outrage in Moscow when he spoke of the need to help Russian residents on the
disputed islands “accept and understand that the sovereignty of their homes
will change.”
A furious Russia summoned the Japanese ambassador to complain that Abe’s
statements were an “attempt to artificially stir up the atmosphere” over the
issue of a possible peace treaty.
Moscow also fumed Japan was trying to “disorientate” the public and that
the Japanese leader’s statements “flagrantly distort the essence of the
agreements” reached by Putin and Abe in Singapore in November, where they
vowed to accelerate efforts towards peace.
Talks lasting several hours between the two foreign ministers on Monday
failed to improve the situation, with Taro Kono and Sergei Lavrov not even
appearing together for a joint press conference.
And at his own New Year’s news conference, Lavrov let rip at Tokyo, saying
the two countries were “still far from being partners in international
relations.”
“Why is Japan the only country in the world that cannot accept the results
of World War II in their entirety?” he asked.
He also lashed out at the pro-Western bias of Japan — the key US ally in
the region.
“Japan votes not with us but against us on all the resolutions that
interest Russia in the UN,” Moscow’s veteran top diplomat said.
– ‘This is our land’ –
Putin aide Ushakov was clear that the sovereignty of the islands was not up
for negotiation.
Russia owns the islands legally “according to the results of World War II”
and has no plans to hand them over to Tokyo, he said.
“This is our land, and nobody is going to give this land to anybody.”
Tensions between the pair have been stoked by actions as well as words.
In December, Russia said it had built four new military barracks on the
islands as it ramps up “military and social infrastructure” there.
Moscow has already deployed missile systems on the islands, sparking howls
of protest from Japan.
James Brown, an expert on Japan-Russia relations at Temple University in
Tokyo, predicted Putin would take a softer tone than Lavrov but admitted
prospects for the talks were “not promising.”
“Whether they can make some real progress is really questionable because
the Russian position is very, very clear: They have said so many times now
that Japan must recognise Russian sovereignty over the four islands as a
result of World War II,” said Brown.
“And if Japan does that, they have no basis for their claim to the islands.
So it really seems that the gap between the two sides is as wide as ever,”
the analyst told AFP.
“I don’t really see a pathway to an agreement.”
The view from Moscow is scarcely more conciliatory, with independent
analyst Vladimir Frolov telling AFP the Russian position has “significantly
hardened.”
Another political analyst, Fyodor Lukyanov, noted: “It is unpopular in any
country to give up even small amounts of territory, but in Russia it would be
especially so today given the difficult domestic situation.”
“To start a campaign giving away land now would not be timely,” he added,
citing social discontent on issues such as pension reform and rising food
prices.