Moscow-Sana
First Deputy Chairman of the International Committee of the Russian Federation Council, Vladimir Jabarov, stressed that the Russian territory is indivisible and that the borders of the Russian Federation are not subject to revision.
Commenting on a statement by the new Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida about the extension of Tokyo's sovereignty to the South Kuril Islands, Jabarov said, "It is a demonstration speech at a hearing in Parliament aimed at calming Japanese society and political parties," adding that "Kishida understands excellently that the Russian territory is indivisible and that Its borders are not subject to review, and this is what the constitution stipulates, and therefore any encroachment on these lands will be considered aggression.”
The Russian senator expressed his regret that statements of this kind do not contribute to improving Russian-Japanese relations, pointing out that the new Japanese prime minister will face difficulties in explaining his position to Moscow, especially about the basis he adopted in his statement on his country's sovereignty over the South Kuril Islands.
Japan claims the islands of Shikotar, Kunashir, Iturup and Hamupai based on a bilateral agreement on trade and borders it signed with Russia in 1855 and Tokyo turned the issue of returning these islands into a condition for signing a peace treaty with Russia that has not been signed since the end of World War II.