Yuri Chekalin
- Russia refused to negotiate a peace treaty with Japan. In the context of the fate of the Kuril Islands, this decision is historically justified, well due and just. Obviously, we would never have found any consensus with the Japanese on the island topic. This was understood by both us and them. So the negotiations about the Kuriles have always been of a ritual nature.
- The new version of the Russian constitution directly states that the territories of our country are not subject to alienation. Case closed.
- The Japanese themselves, following the United States, having shown themselves to be “proud independent samurai”, imposed sanctions against us, which finally demonstrated with whom they would agree on a hypothetical text of a peace treaty. Now these negotiations have lost all meaning. So be it.
- It is much more important to persistently engage in the development of the Kuriles. In recent years, we have breathed new life into them. But more importantly, people who live there see it. It will continue to be so!
Sergey Stankevich
Lucy Dickerson
