MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2020) The Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that the US State Department questions the outcomes of World War II and encourages "revanchism" after it became known that the residents of the Russian Kuril Islands are regarded as Japanese nationals in the US visa rules.
The instructions for the 2021 Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, published on the site of the US State Department's Consular Affairs Bureau, stipulate that the residents of Russian islands of Habomai, Shikotan, Kunashir and Iturup should apply for a Diversity Visa as the natives of Japan.
"Is there any more proof needed that the US is a revisionist power? According to the 1945 decision, the Kuril Islands were ceded to the USSR. Today, the State Department questions the results of World War II, encourages revanchism," the ministry wrote on Twitter account, urging Washington to "know your borders and 'red lines'."
The Diversity Immigrant Visa Program, also known as the green card lottery, is administered by the US State Department. The program grants about 55,000 people from underrepresented countries entry into the United States each year.
The Kuril Islands dispute has been souring Moscow-Tokyo relations for decades and was the main stumbling block to signing a permanent WWII peace treaty. The deal was never reached because of a disagreement over the group of four islands that are claimed by both countries. Moscow insists that the islands were transferred to the Soviet Union after the end of the war and have been an integral part of Russia ever since. Tokyo maintains that the four islands still belong to Japan under the 1855 Treaty of Shimoda, which placed them under Japanese rule.
