MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th October, 2022) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he has signed a decree recognizing Japan's territorial claim to four of the Russian Kuril Islands.
"Ukraine reaffirmed its respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Japan, including its Northern Territories, which are still under Russian occupation. Today I signed the relevant decree," Zelenskyy said in a video address posted on his Telegram channel.
On Friday, the Ukrainian parliament (Verkhovna Rada) voted to recognize Japan's claim to four of the Russian Kuril Islands, which stretch from northern Japan to the southern tip of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. The Rada urged the international community to take measures that would formalize the status of the disputed southern part of the island chain separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific.
Russia and Japan have been locked in a dispute over the four southernmost Kuril Islands (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, and Habomai) since the two countries never signed a permanent peace treaty following World War II.
In March, Russia withdrew from talks with Japan on signing a post-World War II peace treaty, and halted visa-free travel for Japanese citizens to the southern Kuril Islands and joint economic activities on the disputed islands. The move was due to Tokyo's "unfriendly" steps over the Ukrainian conflict, Moscow said.
