24-11-2016, 13:19

A territorial dispute is an international dispute between states over the legal ownership of a certain territory. Let's talk about some unresolved disputes in the world, unrecognized countries and republics, and claims of different countries to territories, both on Earth and in space.

Territorial claims to Russia

Territorial claims against Russia, as the largest country on the planet, are not a new phenomenon, and Russia’s reaction to this issue is a real reason for pride. For each “disputed” territory, he calmly and politely, with sympathy and understanding, tries to explain that all lands belonging to Russia and the Russian people will forever remain with Russia. But the leaders of a number of countries do not want to take this obvious position into account, continually making noise around the so-called “disputed” Russian territories. The map below schematically represents the “geopolitical dream” of Russophobes.

The cry of Russian "friends"

But the most interesting thing is that Russia does not make territorial claims to any country in the world, and as it has happened historically, this is how it has turned out. After all, if we start presenting it, we will have to remember the powerful Russian Empire, whose territory back in the 19th century was 21.8 million km² (that is, 1/6 of the land) - it ranked second in the world, after the British Empire. And this does not take into account the territory of Alaska, which was part of it from 1744 to 1867 and occupied an area of ​​1,717,854 km², without taking into account the Aleutian Islands, as well as parts of the Pacific coast of the USA and Canada... Russia does not remind us of all this, but it could ...

So, which countries have territorial claims against Russia?

Noktundo has belonged to the Korean Joseon Dynasty since the 15th century. In 1587, a battle took place on its territory between detachments of Jurchen nomads and a local garrison under the command of Yi Sunsin, the national hero of Korea.
During the shallowing of the northern branch of the Tumannaya, the river bed changed from time to time, as a result of which Noktundo sometimes connected with the land of Primorye. Despite this, the territory of the island continued to be under Korean jurisdiction.

In 1860, without the consent of the Korean side, Noktundo ceded to the Russian Empire in accordance with the Beijing Treaty between Qing China and Russia. Throughout the 20th century, the territory of the island was part of the Khasansky district of Primorsky Krai.

In 1990, the USSR and the DPRK signed an agreement on establishing the state border line along the Tumannaya fairway, thanks to which the territory of the former island was recognized as Soviet. This deal was not recognized by South Korea, which continues to consider the Noktundo territory its own.

Perhaps the most relevant today are Japan's claims against Russia regarding the southern Kuril Islands: Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai archipelago. These territories first appeared on the map of Russia in the middle of the 18th century, when the captain of the Russian fleet, Martyn Petrovich Shpanberg, marked the Lesser Kuril Ridge on it. Catherine II formalized these annexations by decree of 1786, calling them “lands acquired by Russian sailors.”

However, already in 1855 they were transferred to Japan according to the Treaty of Shimoda as a guarantee of “permanent peace and sincere friendship between Russia and Japan.” This agreement was followed by the St. Petersburg Treaty, according to which all the Kuril Islands were transferred to Japan in exchange for the Japanese part of Sakhalin. The latter was subsequently lost during the Russo-Japanese War.

The chance to return the lost territories presented itself after the Yalta Conference on February 11, 1945, at which an agreement was reached on the USSR's entry into the war against Japan, subject to the transfer of Southern Sakhalin and all the Kuril Islands to it. In accordance with this agreement, General of the Allied Forces Douglas MacArthur in 1946, by a special Memorandum, excluded the Kuril Islands (Chishima Islands), the Habomai group of islands (Habomadze) and the island of Sikotan from the territories of the Land of the Rising Sun.

However, a peace treaty between Russia and Japan was never signed. Japan refused to recognize a number of the Kuril Islands, which were transferred to Russia, as “Kuril Islands”. According to the official position of the Land of the Rising Sun, the islands of Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai (Southern Kuriles) were not part of the Kuril Islands and Japan did not abandon them.

The territorial dispute only worsened during the Cold War. In 1956, the USSR, according to the maritime declaration, was ready to cede the islands of Habomai and Shikotan to Japan, leaving behind the strategically important Kunashir and Iturup. However, in the event of such a compromise, the United States threatened the Land of the Rising Sun with the deprivation of the Ryukyu archipelago with the island of Okinawa, which was then under American control.

The failed compromise was, in fact, the last precedent in history when the Kuril issue could move forward. The Treaty on Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, adopted shortly after this, legitimized the presence of American troops on Japanese territory, which was naturally regarded by the USSR as a threat to its own interests. The dispute “about the northern territories” has reached a complete dead end.

Today, the four islands of the South Kuril Islands, as well as the status of the Northern Islands and South Sakhalin, remain the main stumbling block in Russian-Japanese relations, which prevents summing up the results of World War II and signing a peace treaty. According to Russia’s position, all the Kuril Islands, including Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai, as well as all of Sakhalin, belong to the Russian Federation legally, following the results of World War II.

Russia is still ready to make concessions in the form of the islands of Habomai and Shikotan. Japan, whose position is consistently supported by the United States, considers all the Southern Kuril Islands to be its ancestral lands, illegally occupied by Russia, and the Northern Kuril Islands and Southern Sakhalin as territories with an uncertain status. For its part, a peace treaty is possible only with the return of all four disputed islands. At the same time, there is a third force - the indigenous Ainu people, who insist on their sovereign rights to the Southern Islands.

The situation sometimes reaches the point of absurdity. Thus, in 2012, the Japanese government officially expressed regret in connection with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev’s visit to Kunashir Island, calling it “serious obstacles in bilateral relations.”

The return of the Kuril Islands is the cornerstone of the foreign policy of the current Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Today, Japanese media take the position that the territorial issue has finally moved forward, due to Vladimir Putin's statement that the lack of a peace treaty with Japan is abnormal.

The legacy of the revolution and the subsequent division of the Russian Empire was a long-term territorial dispute between Russia and Latvia over the Pytalovsky district of the Pskov region. This territory was transferred to the latter under the terms of the Riga Peace Treaty between Soviet Russia and Latvia of 1920. According to the official Latvian version, when determining the border in 1920, the ethnographic principle was applied. According to other sources, Latvia insisted on transferring this region to it, since it had an important railway junction. In any case, Pytalovo became part of the separated Latvia, and was soon renamed Jaunlatgale.

But the lost territories were returned twenty years later, in 1940, after Latvia was included in the USSR as the Latvian SSR. And in 1944, Pytalovo and the surrounding area became part of the RSFSR, after liberation from Nazi occupation. After the collapse of the USSR, Latvia refused to recognize these territorial changes, calling its inclusion in the Union of Socialist Republics an occupation, and Pytalovo an illegally annexed territory, insisting on the return of the 1920 borders. The area with the telling name “Pytalovo” has long become a source of irritation in relations between Moscow and Riga.

He disrupted the signing of the Russian-Latvian border agreement when Latvia unexpectedly included in the project a unilateral, “clarifying” declaration with claims to these territories. According to Latvian politicians, the fact that Pytalovo was owned by Russia violated the Latvian constitution, according to which the border (naturally, corresponding to the 1920 border) cannot be changed without the consent of citizens in a referendum. In response to this, Vladimir Putin uttered his famous phrase: “It’s their ears from a dead donkey, not the Pytalovsky district.”

Latvia could have insisted for a long time on its undoubted ownership of the “five kilometers” of the Pskov region, if not for its desire to join the European Union, one of the main requirements of which is clearly defined borders. In 2007, President Vike-Freiberga renounced her territorial claims, expressing the hope that this would: “help unfreeze the really frozen relations with our eastern neighbor.”

While Latvia has abandoned its territorial claims, in Finland there is a growing number of public organizations advocating for the return of Karelia and other territories lost during the Second World War. Vesti Karelia reported about the upcoming public discussion on hypothetical ways of returning Karelia, which could take place in the very near future. According to them, among the initiators are the revanchist organization ProKarelia, the Karelia club, as well as the magazine Karjalan kuvalehti.

During its history, Karelia was a Swedish duchy, a Korelsky district, and an Olonets governorship. This land has become disputed more than once.

The Karelian question arose as a result of the terms of the Tartu Peace Treaty of 1920, at the end of the Finnish Civil War and the Soviet-Finnish War. According to its terms, Western Karelia became the property of Finland. The territories were returned during the Second World War, and the Karelian-Finnish population was evacuated to Finland. In 1956, the Karelo-Finnish SSR was transformed into an autonomy within the RSFSR.

Despite the fact that Finland does not officially raise the issue of revising borders, in the country, according to recent polls, 38% of respondents are in favor of the return of Western Karelia. In 2011, the leader of the ProKarelia movement, already known to us, Veikko Saksi, came up with a similar initiative, reporting that the return of Karelia to Finland complied with all EU standards. However, the President of Finland, Sauli Niiniste, during his working visit to Moscow in 2013, denied this information, saying that he had never heard such a proposal among Finnish legislators.

Today, China has territorial claims to almost all of its neighbors. Russia is no exception. More recently, in 2005, the Russian-Chinese border underwent changes in the form of 340 square kilometers: a plot of land in the area of ​​Bolshoy Island and two sections in the area of ​​Tarabarov and Bolshoy Ussuriysky islands, at the confluence of the Amur and Ussuri rivers, came under the jurisdiction of the PRC. However, this was not the end of China’s territorial claims to Russia.

Map of China's territorial claims.

In 2012, when checking the state border between the countries, China announced the need to shift it deeper into Russia, putting forward a claim to “originally Chinese” 17 hectares of the Altai mountainous area. It is worth noting that the dispute arose over a small area of ​​inaccessible territory, located at an altitude of 2500-3000 meters, and not currently equipped with checkpoints. As a result, the Chinese side was unable to provide any documents to support its claims to the Altai 17 hectares, which overnight turned into disputed territories.

The Crimean peninsula, on which the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol are located, became part of Russia on March 18, 2014, following the results of a referendum held on its territory, in which the overwhelming majority of Crimeans voted for reunification with Russia.

When seceding from Ukraine, Crimea used the same grounds as it did in 1991 when seceding from the USSR, namely:
The right of peoples to self-determination
Security threat due to coup d'etat

Continuation of centuries-old historical traditions

Ukraine, of which Crimea had previously been a part, had already lost its previously existing statehood at the time of the referendum, since the coup, during which the current president was deposed by parliament with obvious violations of constitutional procedures, automatically placed all power in the country outside the constitution and legally destroyed the state as such.

The results of the referendum are not openly recognized by Ukraine and the West; the rest of the world for the most part simply avoids the issue. In any case, the topic will remain open for some time, among other things, because in 1954 Crimea was transferred to Ukraine with different borders - since then the northern part of the Arabat Spit with the village of Strelkovoe still remains in the Kherson region. In general, the issue is closely connected with the future fate of Novorossiya.

Territorial claims around the world

Today the world has about 50 disputed territories in the world. With the development of science and technology, some disputes have even moved into outer space, and are also tied to territories that are generally unsuitable for habitation, but have significant reserves of natural resources.

1. Nagorno-Karabakh

One of the most serious conflicts regarding territory is the dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. Today Nagorno-Karabakh is a de facto independent state, calling itself the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. Azerbaijan and the international community consider Nagorno-Karabakh to be part of Azerbaijan.

2. Kashmir

In the north of the Indian subcontinent there is a disputed territory of Kashmir, the rights to which are disputed by China, Pakistan and India itself. Countries today have “divided” Kashmir as follows - Pakistan actually included the northwestern part of Kashmir, China the northeastern part of Kashmir. The rest is occupied by the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir.

One of the most prominent disputes is the claims between China and India over Tibet. This situation has remained unresolved for 50 years, since 1959, when the first armed conflict regarding the territory received wide publicity.

The dispute between Syria and Israel regarding the Golan Heights has not yet been resolved. In 1967, the territory was annexed by Israel, in 1973 the UN established a buffer zone, but the status of the territories has not yet been recognized.

5. New Moor

It's amazing what people don't fight for. A striking example is an island, or rather a spit, 10 square meters in size, which appeared in 1970 and disappeared in 2010, but Bangladesh and India fought for it for 40 years.

Another surprising dispute between Egypt and Sudan regarding the territory of Bir Tawil. The surprising thing is that both countries are trying not to take, but to get rid of this piece of land.

In 1991, a new self-proclaimed state of Somaliland was formed on the territory of Somalia, with a population of about 3 million people. It is an unrecognized state to this day.

Decades of armed conflict led to Kosovo declaring independence from Serbia in 2008. Over the following years, it was recognized by many countries, including Britain, the USA, etc. However, Russia and China were categorically against it.

A narrow strip - the Transnistrian Republic, located between Ukraine and Moldova - became a disputed territory for many years and to this day this autonomous unit is considered to belong to Moldova almost throughout the world.

One island, 750 people on it and seven states that are fighting each other for the possession of this piece of land. And all because there is gas, oil and lots and lots of fish.

Both republics sought their independence from Georgia for about a century, violent conflicts in which Russia also took part led to the fact that today only a few countries recognize their independence - Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and several Pacific islands.

The most active country trying to stake a claim to the ice continent was Great Britain. Her intentions were disputed by Australia, France, Norway, New Zealand, Argentina, and Chile. The intentions of the parties threatened to escalate into the Antarctic War.

Attempts to stop the division of Antarctica were made by the United States and India back in the late 1940s. However, the meetings and conferences they held did not produce any results. Progress was achieved only in 1959, when 12 states signed the Antarctic Treaty - a kind of international set of rules for behavior on the continent. In addition to the seven countries claiming territory in Antarctica, the document was signed by representatives of Belgium, the USSR, the USA, South Africa and Japan. All of them were conducting active research on the continent at the time of the creation of the treaty. Now the number of signatories to the treaty has increased to 50 countries, and only 22 of them have the right to vote - those whose researchers are most actively involved in the study of Antarctica.

The core of the agreement was the postulate that Antarctica is declared a peaceful zone, where it is prohibited to place any military bases, conduct maneuvers and test weapons, including nuclear weapons. Instead, the region was to become a platform for large-scale scientific research, the results of which the parties could freely exchange.

The development of science and technology has led to disputes arising even beyond the Earth. Despite the fact that the Moon Treaty declares it free of property claims, there are numerous loopholes that some countries are rushing to take advantage of. For example, the United States proposed to give the status of a monument to the footprints of astronauts who walked on the Moon, and some enterprising comrades are selling plots on the Moon for personal use. Unfortunately, the legislation regarding celestial bodies is such that any state that installs its equipment on an asteroid or satellite becomes the sole owner. Note that disputes over the Moon are not just happening, for example, in the regions of the Sea of ​​​​Tranquility and the Ocean of Storms, for example, there are huge deposits of ilmenite - a mineral from which oxygen, iron, titanium oxide and titanium itself can be obtained relatively cheaply.

In general, judging by the trend, we should soon expect divisions of the Moon and other celestial bodies, in the image of Antarctica.

In December 1963, the strained relations between the Cypriot Greeks and the Turks, caused by interference in the internal affairs of Cyprus, the joint activities of the Greek and Turkish members of the House of Representatives ceased. Since 1975, the leadership of the Turkish community unilaterally proclaimed the Cypriot state “Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus” in the northern part of the island, where a constitution and legislative assembly were approved. Today this state is recognized only by Turkey.

Territorial claims

The Arctic attracts many countries with its rich gas and oil reserves. Melting ice and general warming, according to scientists, can make the Arctic Ocean a busy transport route between Europe, Asia and America. A map of the possible territorial division of the region has been drawn up.

arctic struggle northern natural resource

The fight for the North Pole

In the late 50s, Canada claimed rights to the North Pole. Then the international court ruled that the territory could go to this country if, within 100 years, no one convincingly proves that the bottom of the Arctic Ocean belongs to it.

In 2004, Denmark announced that it has rights to the Earth's North Pole, since the pole is connected to Greenland by the two-thousand-kilometer Lomonosov Ridge, and Greenland itself is a semi-autonomous territory of the Danish kingdom.

“The Kremlin caused palpitations in the West by planting its national flag on the bottom of the Arctic Ocean under the North Pole in 2007, Russia thus wanted to demonstrate its territorial claims to the polar region.”

The Arctic is divided into sectors. The boundaries of these sectors are established along the edges of the territories of countries adjacent to the Arctic, connected to the center of the Arctic Pole. What is enshrined by the countries with northern borders in the corresponding document under the auspices of the UN.

Currently, the United States and Canada are organizing Arctic expeditions in order to prove their rights to a larger part of the Arctic shelf than they can dispose of today. The next such expeditions are planned for the summer of 2010; previously, two American-Canadian expeditions undertaken for this purpose were successfully completed. In 2001, Russia became the first of the five Arctic countries to apply to expand the boundaries of its continental shelf beyond the standard 322-kilometer limit. The UN rejected the application, citing a lack of evidence. Russia, in turn, said it plans to spend about 1.5 billion rubles ($50 million) in 2010 to determine the extent of its continental shelf in the Arctic.

Territorial claims to Russia

Throughout the post-war period, Russian-Japanese relations were complicated by a problem called the problem of the northern territories. It is important to consider this problem in the context of the entire process of disengagement between Russia and Japan. Its origin dates back to the first half of the 19th century. At this time, a meeting between Russians and Japanese took place in the Kuril Islands area. Russian industrialists were interested in harvesting marine animals here, and the Japanese of Hokkaido were interested in fishing. The Kuril Islands were discovered by Russians in the 17th century, and they began to develop them. The islands were inhabited by indigenous people - the Ainu, who were brought under the citizenship of the Russian Tsar.

First agreement on the borders was concluded in $1855. According to the agreement, the northern part of the Kuril Islands was assigned to Russia, and their southern part was assigned to Japan. The demarcation point was the island of Iturup. The territory of Sakhalin was declared undivided.

New border treaty between Russia and Japan was concluded in $1875. The agreement stated that the northern part of the Kuril Islands goes to Japan, and all of Sakhalin belongs to Russia. The occupation of all of Sakhalin occurred during the Russo-Japanese War $1904$-$1905$. Later, under the Treaty of Portsmouth, Japan received its southern part. At the height of the Great Patriotic War, the USSR managed to avoid being drawn into hostilities in the Far East thanks to the Neutrality Pact signed in 1941.

USSR entry into the war with Japan, Stalin, during negotiations with the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition, stipulated a number of demands.

They were as follows:

1. Return of the southern part of Sakhalin to the Soviet Union;
2. Restoration of the lease rights of the Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Port Arthur and Dalny, lost during the Russo-Japanese War;
3. Return of the Kuril Islands as compensation;
4. Return of the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), sold to Japan in 1935.

In April $1945$ Neutrality Pact The USSR dissolved with Japan. During the military operations, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were liberated. The following year, the liberated territories became part of the Sakhalin region of the RSFSR. Under an agreement with China, the USSR received Port Arthur, Dalny and the Chinese Eastern Railway, and as a result of the victory of the Chinese communists in the civil war, it returned them. In $1951$ Japan refused from Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

In 1956, diplomatic and consular relations were restored between the USSR and Japan, and the USSR, the island of Shikotan and the island ridge of Habomai, was ready to transfer to Japan.

The situation around the peace treaty with Japan from $1960 to $1990. was frozen. One side denied the existence of territorial problems, while the other advocated the return of the northern territories.

With the collapse of the USSR, the Russian leadership tried intensify dialogue with Japan, but to no avail.

With the arrival of V.V. Putin's relations with Japan began new stage– signing a Russian-Japanese action plan to give a new quality to bilateral relations.

As part of the adopted plan, the parties identified the following tasks:

1. To solve existing problems, intensify negotiations;
2. The importance of concluding a peace treaty must be explained to the public of both countries;
3. Visa-free exchange between islanders and Japanese citizens;
4. Cooperation in the field of marine biological resources;
5. Joint economic activities in the area of ​​the islands.

According to K. Sivkov, first vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, the Japanese are confident that Russia is weakening and can be influenced in the following areas:

1. Economic pressure through the G7;
2. Information pressure – Russia is an aggressor;
3. Direct force one-sided pressure.

In order to resolve the territorial issue, Japan is using additional sanctions on a number of Russian organizations and individuals allegedly directly involved in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Territorial claims to China

The stumbling block of Japanese-Chinese relations is the southernmost and strategically important island Okinotori. With the help of artificial coral reefs, the Japanese are expanding its territory, as officially reported by representatives of the Japanese Fisheries Administration. In the future, the number of coral colonies will increase $2$ times, and “tens of thousands” of such plantings will appear, and this will help resolve the dispute with the PRC.

China considers Okinotori " rocks", not an "island" and does not recognize the international law of Tokyo to establish a $200$-mile exclusive economic zone around this piece of land.

Another territorial dispute between countries concerns archipelago in the East China Sea. The essence of the dispute is that since 1885, the Japanese government has maintained that the islands are uninhabited and there are no traces of Chinese control over them. On this basis, in $1895, Japan officially included the Senkaku Islands into its composition. After World War II, it lost all its territories acquired in the 19th century, including the Senkakus, which came under US jurisdiction. In 1970, the Americans returned the islands to Japan. China in $1992, $20 years later, declared its disagreement and declared the territory “originally Chinese.” The territorial dispute between the countries continues.

Territorial claims in Antarctica

In the first half of the 20th century, Japan declared its claims to territorial sovereignty over part of Antarctica. Such claims are related to the fact that back in $1910$-$1912$. The Japanese made their first expedition to Antarctica. The expedition was led by Lieutenant Shirase Nobu. In January $1912, it reached the $80$ parallel at the point of its intersection with the $156$ meridian. The expedition was unable to advance further to the South Pole, and Nobu concluded that the team was not ready. The place where they stopped was called the Snowy Valley of Yamato and the open lands were declared the possessions of Japan. Japan officially declared its rights to open lands in Antarctica in 1939. The territorial claims concerned the space located between the Ross sector and the Falkland sector.

Under the Treaty of San Francisco, concluded in 1951, Japan renounced all territorial claims to rights or interests in any part of the Antarctic region. No state in the world today officially lays claim to the Mary Byrd Land and Ellsworth Land sectors, which were put forward before the Antarctic Treaty came into force. Only Norway makes claims to Peter the Great Island and Chile claims the eastern part to the $90$ meridian in the west. According to the Antarctic Treaty, Japan cannot make territorial claims in this zone - this is official, but such claims are made unofficially. Moreover, they have a peculiar justification related to the fact that the hydrocarbon deposits explored here are located at such great depths that no one except Japan will be able to mine them, because only Japan has the necessary technologies.

Note 2

The House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet in July 2015 passed a law to expand the powers of the Self-Defense Forces. Analysts believe that this law will enable the country to use the Self-Defense Forces in matters of territorial claims.

Russian-Japanese relations in the last decade have been complicated by a problem called the problem of the so-called northern territories. It should be considered in the context of the entire process of territorial demarcation between Russia and Japan.

This process began in the 1st half of the 19th century, when the Russians and Japanese met each other in the Kuril Islands area. These islands were of interest as a fishing area for marine animals for Russian industrialists. And for the Japanese who lived on the island of Hokkaido, they were a fishing zone.

The Kuril Islands were in the 17th century. discovered and mastered by the Russians. The indigenous population of the islands (Ainu) was brought under the citizenship of the Russian Tsar.

1855 - the first border treaty was concluded. The northern part of the Kuril Islands was assigned to Russia, the southern part to Japan. The demarcation point is Iturup Island. Sakhalin was declared an undivided territory.

In 1875, a new Russian-Japanese border treaty was concluded. All of Sakhalin went to Russia, and the northern part of the Kuril Islands to Japan.

During the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. Japan first occupied all of Sakhalin, and then, under the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, received its southern part.

1941 - The Neutrality Pact is signed. This document made it possible to avoid the Soviet Union being drawn into hostilities in the Far East at the height of the Great Patriotic War.

During negotiations with Western partners in the anti-Hitler coalition, Stalin at the Tehran, Yalta and Potsdam conferences conditioned the USSR's entry into the war with Japan with a number of demands. He demanded the return of the southern part of Sakhalin to the USSR and the restoration of the lease rights to the Liaodong Peninsula with the cities of Port Arthur and Dalny, lost after the defeat in the Russo-Japanese War. In addition, the Kuril Islands and the Chinese Eastern Railway (CER), sold to Japan in 1935, were requested as compensation.

On April 5, 1945, the Soviet government announced the denunciation of the Neutrality Pact with Japan. During military operations, among other territories, South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands were liberated.

In 1946, these territories were included in the Sakhalin region of the RSFSR. The USSR received the cities of Port Arthur, Dalniy and the Chinese Eastern Railway under an agreement with China, and then returned them to the latter after the victory of the Chinese communists in the civil war.

1951 San Francisco - peace treaty with Japan, there was no USSR. Japan abandoned South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.

1956 - Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan (restoration of diplomatic and consular relations between the two states). The USSR was ready to transfer to Japan part of the South Kuril Islands, namely the island of Shikotan and the Habomai island ridge. The Soviet leadership announced its rejection of the provisions of the Moscow Declaration of 1956.

From 1960 to the early 1990s. the situation around the peace treaty was frozen. The Soviet Union denied the existence of territorial problems, and in Japan the majority of political forces advocated the return of the “northern territories” (ITURUP, KUNASHIR, SHIKOTAN, HABOMAI), linking this issue with all other issues of the development of relations with the USSR.

In the 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian leadership made efforts to intensify dialogue with Japan, but they never yielded tangible results.

A new stage in relations with Japan began after V. Putin became President of the Russian Federation. During the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Dz. Koizumi to Russia, he and V. Putin signed the Russian-Japanese Action Plan with the aim of giving a new quality to bilateral relations, which should correspond to the potential capabilities of both states.

Regarding the conclusion of a peace treaty and related territorial problems, the parties, within the framework of the adopted plan, identified the following tasks for themselves:

1) intensify negotiations in order to quickly resolve the remaining problems;

2) explaining to the public of the two countries the importance of concluding a peace treaty”;

3) further development of visa-free exchanges between island residents and Japanese citizens;

4) cooperation in the field of harvesting marine biological resources;

5) search for forms of joint economic activity in the area of ​​the islands

More on the topic Japan's territorial claims to Russia: origins, solutions:

1. Japanese-Russian relations at the present stage. The territorial problem as a geopolitical factor in the relationship between Russia and Japan: stages and solutions
2. Causes, origins of tension in the Middle East and ways to achieve peace and security
3. 1. Ways, approaches and methods of solutions in a conflict situation

Japanese territorial claims

Today, Japan has territorial disputes with almost all its neighbors. In 2005, a long-term dispute between Japan and the Republic of Korea, which is supported by the DPRK, over the ownership of the Dokdo Islands (Japanese name Takeshima) entered a new stage. The uninhabited island of Dokdo is located in the Sea of ​​Japan (Korean name is the East Sea) and allows you to control its southern waters and access to the East China Sea (through the Tsushima Strait). Possession of it, in addition to stable transit income, gives an advantage in the development of oil and gas reserves in its area, which were discovered there in the first half of the 1980s. in the amount of about 60 million tons. This is a fairly weighty argument for fighting for it, since Japan, North Korea and South Korea are almost 100% dependent on the import of these resources. In the same area there are large reserves of many highly valuable species of marine biological resources, which are perhaps the most significant in the basin of the Sea of ​​Japan (East). In 1905, after the end of the Russo-Japanese War and the beginning of Japanese expansion on the Korean Peninsula, Tokyo included them in its Shimane Prefecture. In the early 1950s, Seoul occupied the islands, claiming that they had been part of the Korean state for centuries and had been illegally seized. Currently, there is a small garrison of the Seoul marine police there. E. Zolotov. On the issue of the situation around Dokdo Island // Problems of the Far East. - 2006. - No. 5. - P.42-43..

At the initiative of the legislation of Shimane Prefecture, February 23 was declared “Takeshima Day.” This move was neither officially supported nor condemned by Japan's central authorities. However, bilateral relations between the countries deteriorated: negotiations between Japan and the Republic of Korea on the creation of a free trade zone were interrupted, planned visits of high-ranking Korean officials to Japan V. Pavlyatenko, A. Semin, N. Tebin, D. Shcherbakov were canceled. Japan in 2005 //Problems of the Far East. - 2006. - No. 5. - P.105.. In October 2006, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Seoul and met with President of the Republic of Korea Roh Moo-hyun, the first summit of the heads of the two states after a year-long break. The leaders of the two states announced their intention to promote the development of Japanese-Korean relations “aimed at the future” Grinyuk V. Japan: the problem of historical responsibility // Problems of the Far East. - 2007. - No. 5. - P.47.. However, in March 2009, the chairman of the Democratic Party of Japan, Ichiro Oizawa, proposed to buy the island from Korea, to which the Korean authorities responded with a sharp condemnation of this proposal. Oizawa proposes to buy the disputed island from South Korea//Kyodo News.

Relations with China in recent years have been built on the principle of “hot in the economy, cold in politics.” There is virtually no constructive interaction between Tokyo and Beijing in the political sphere, no progress in resolving problems that periodically cause aggravation of relations: differences in approaches to the Taiwan issue, a territorial dispute regarding the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu), etc. Senkaku Islands (in Chinese cartography - Diaoyu) include five uninhabited islands and three reefs with a total area of ​​about 6.32 km?, located in the southern part of the East China Sea, 175 km north of Ishigaki Island, 190 km northeast of Taiwan Island and 420 km east of mainland China. The Senkaku Islands are controlled by Japan, and their ownership is disputed by China and Taiwan.

Until the second half of the 19th century. the archipelago remained uninhabited; the sources do not contain information about attempts to develop this territory either from Imperial China or from Japan. Only in the 70s-80s. XIX century Japan is beginning to show interest in the Senkaku Archipelago, located in close proximity to the Ryukyu Islands - the Senkaku Islands appear on official maps of Japan. The Japanese government did not prohibit Japanese fishermen from fishing near the archipelago, considering these uninhabited islands to be no man's territory. In turn, the Chinese government did not protest against the actions of Japanese fishermen. Based on this, it can be concluded that the Chinese government did not consider the Senkaku Archipelago as territory belonging to China.

The islands were not widely known and did not cause territorial disputes until the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East published a report in 1968 indicating that there might be a rich oil field near the Senkaku Islands on the continental shelf of the East China Sea. . In the fall of 1968, scientists from Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan conducted studies of the bottom of the East China Sea, which showed that northeast of Taiwan, in an area with a total area of ​​200 thousand km? There is a rich oil field. Thus, there was no territorial conflict over the ownership of the Senkaku Archipelago from the end of the Second World War in 1945 until 1970. Due to its low significance, the uninhabited Senkaku Archipelago was not even mentioned in the text of the San Francisco Peace Treaty with Japan.

Taiwan first officially expressed its claims to sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands in September 1970. In October 1970, the PRC, which had until now remained silent regarding the problem of the Senkaku Archipelago, announced its territorial claims to the Diaoyu Islands (Senkaku). However, after the establishment of diplomatic relations between the PRC and Japan (September 1972), the conflict largely lost its severity. A new exacerbation occurred only in the mid-1990s. The deterioration of Sino-Taiwanese relations in connection with military exercises conducted by the PRC on the eve of the presidential elections in Taiwan in March 1996 caused serious concerns among the people of Japan. If these events had escalated into a military conflict, China, having captured Taiwan, might have tried to take control of the Senkaku Islands controlled by Japan. There was a danger of the outbreak of hostilities between the two countries.

Recently, the problem of developing the gas-bearing shelf in the East China Sea at the junction of exclusive economic zones has become more acute. China does not recognize the Japanese version of the shelf dividing line and has already begun industrial gas production in the disputed area. In turn, the Japanese government issued licenses to Japanese companies to explore and produce gas in the area. The Japanese side is developing measures to ensure the security of the activities of Japanese companies by self-defense forces. For this purpose, units of self-defense forces from the Northern Army (Hokkaido) were redeployed to the southern regions of Japan: V. Pavlyatenko, A. Semin, N. Tebin, D. Shcherbakov. Japan in 2005 // Problems of the Far East. - 2006. - No. 5. - P.106-108.. A new round of aggravation of the conflict around these territories occurred in February 2009, when Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso announced that Japan and the United States would cooperate with each other in the event of any possible attack by a third country on the disputed islands in the East China Sea. In response, China protested and stated that the islands “are the territory of China and China has indisputable sovereignty over them.” Quote. from: China protests Taro Aso's remarks regarding disputed islands//Kyodo News, 02.27.2009. To date, no agreement has been reached between Japan and China on the ownership of the Senkaku Archipelago.

Relations with Russia occupy an important place in Japan's foreign policy. However, emphasizing Tokyo's desire to develop relations in all areas, the Japanese Prime Minister emphasizes that Japan is not going to deviate from its position on the issue of ownership of the Southern Kuriles.

The Kuril Islands are a chain of islands located east of Sakhalin, with a total area of ​​5.2 thousand km?. The islands represent a natural border for Russia from the Pacific Ocean on the approaches to the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and Primorye; they significantly expand the scope of mainland defense, ensure the security of supply routes for military bases located in Kamchatka, and control over maritime and air space over the Sea of ​​Okhotsk. They have rich natural resources (mineral, including the world’s only rhenium deposit on Iturup, aquatic biological resources).

The northern and central parts of the Kuril ridge were discovered by Russian navigators in the 16th-17th centuries. In 1786, Empress Catherine II of Russia declared the Kuril Islands Russian possessions. In 1855, in the Japanese port of Shimoda, the first Russian-Japanese treaty was signed - the Shimoda Treaty on Trade, which established the border between the two countries between the islands of Urup and Iturup. Iturup, Kunashir and the Habomai group of islands went to Japan, the rest of the Kuril Islands were declared possessions of Russia. In 1875, under the Treaty of St. Petersburg, Russia transferred 18 Kuril Islands to Japan in exchange for the Japanese side renouncing its rights to Sakhalin. The border between the two states passed through the strait between Cape Lopatka in Kamchatka and Shumshu Island. In 1905, after Russia's defeat in the Russo-Japanese War, the Portsmouth Peace Treaty was signed, according to which Russia ceded the southern part of Sakhalin to Japan. In 1925, the USSR officially announced its refusal to recognize the borders under the Portsmouth Treaty. In February 1945, at the Yalta Conference, the USSR, USA and Great Britain reached an agreement on the USSR's entry into the war with Japan, subject to the return of Southern Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to it at the end of the war. In April 1945, the USSR denounced the peace treaty and began military operations against Japan in August. In February 1946, the USSR announced the inclusion of the Kuril Islands into its composition. Until the early 1990s, the position of the USSR government was that the issue of territories between the USSR and Japan had been resolved and secured by relevant international agreements that must be respected. Recognition of the existence of Japan's territorial claims was first recorded in the Soviet-Japanese statement signed by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1991 Koshkin A.A. Russia in the Kuril Islands//Problems of the Far East. - 2007. - No. 1. - pp. 92-96.. Since that time, there have been no significant changes in the issue of ownership of the Kuril Islands, since neither side is going to retreat. Almost all Japanese prime ministers elected over the past two decades emphasized during the election campaign that Japan would not give up on its demands.

In February 2009, Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso noted: “Russia is an important neighboring country in terms of ensuring peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. In order to raise our relations with Russia to a high level, it is necessary to achieve a final solution to the territorial problem, which remains the largest unresolved issue." Will Russia and Japan resolve the Kuril issue? // Kyodo News, 02/08/2009. Several possible options for resolving the dispute were proposed, for example, the so-called “50x50”, which implies the division of the islands between Russia and Japan in half. At the same time, Russia retains only Iturup, whose area is 62% of the islands (this project did not receive active support from any of the parties).

However, in the last few months, after the appointment of Yukio Hatayama as Prime Minister of Japan, who before his election as head of government stated that he intended to achieve progress in negotiations with Russia on the Kuril Islands in a year or two, there has been another aggravation of the situation around the islands. On June 11, 2009, the lower house of the Japanese parliament approved a bill confirming the state's rights to 4 islands belonging to Russia. According to the bill, which deputies voted for unanimously, the islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands are an integral part of Japan. The law also expands the rules of visa-free travel in the Kuril Islands. The first vice-president of the Academy of Geopolitical Problems, Konstantin Sivkov, sees the main reason for this decision as the fact that “the Japanese are confident: Russia is weakening, and its armed forces have reached a state where they cannot provide full security.” Rezchikov A. Japan can go for the force scenario / /Sight. - November 20, 2009.. He believes that impacts are possible in several directions: economic pressure on Russia through the G7; the second is information pressure, where Russia will be presented as an aggressor, which is already being done within the European Union. And the last thing is direct force pressure. If the Russian armed forces in this region are weakened, Japan may take unilateral force measures to occupy the “northern territories.”