Dmitri Medvedev told Japan on Tuesday that it should give up its territorial claims on a group of islands in the Pacific, which are part of the Kuril Islands group. “These are not disputed territories, but Russian ones,” said the vice-president of the Security Council in Moscow, commenting that “the sad samurai” can “commit seppuku if they dare”, informs Reuters, cited by Agerpres.
The direct comments of Medvedev, former Russian president and current vice-president of the Russian Security Council, regarding what Moscow calls the Kuril Islands are likely to cause upset in Japan, which claims four of the southernmost islands, which it calls the Northern Territories. Russia, the main successor state of the Soviet Union, and Japan have never signed a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities during World War II, with the islands remaining a major obstacle. The islands are located off Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of Japan, and were captured by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II. Diplomats from both sides have previously discussed the possibility of reviving a Soviet-era treaty that would see two of the four islands returned to Japan as part of a peace treaty.
However, Moscow has withdrawn from peace treaty negotiations with Tokyo and has frozen joint economic projects related to the islands in 2022 due to Japan’s sanctions over the war in Ukraine, leading to further deterioration of relations. Medvedev said he was responding to comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who he said had expressed support for a peace treaty with Russia. “No one is against a peace treaty, understanding that the ‘territorial issue’ is closed once and for all in accordance with the Russian constitution”, Medvedev wrote on his official X account.
In 2020, the Russian constitution was amended to prohibit the transfer of territory to a foreign power. Medvedev, who is known to be one of the Kremlin’s toughest critics of the West, said that Japan would also have to accept that Russia would develop the Kuril Islands and station new weapons there. “We don’t care at all about the ‘feelings of the Japanese’ over the so-called Northern Territories. These are not disputed territories, but Russian ones,” Medvedev stated.
“And those samurai who are feeling particularly sad can end their lives in a traditional Japanese way, by committing seppuku (Japanese ritual suicide by cutting the stomach – n.r.) If they dare, of course,” he added. Medvedev accused Japan of “playing well with” the United States, despite the fact that the US military dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In December, Russia declared that joint military exercises between Japan, the United States, and Australia near Hokkaido are a “potential security threat” and complained that Japan – with the help of the US – is expanding its military infrastructure and increasing weapons purchases. Japan has periodically expressed concern about Russia’s growing military infrastructure in the disputed island chain.