Putin dislikes the idea of US army bases coming to Kuril Islands

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that US army bases will not appear on the southern Kuril Islands in the even Russia delivers them to Japan.

In accordance with the US-Japanese Security Treaty, the United States can deploy its army bases throughout the territory of Japan, albeit with Japan's consent.

Shinzo Abe wants Putin to accelerate the negotiations on the territorial dispute between Russia and Japan. It is believed that the parties are to discuss the conclusion of a peace treaty on the basis of the 1956 Joint Soviet-Japanese Declaration. According to the document, Moscow delivers Habomai and Shikotan islands to Japan after the conclusion of the peace treaty between Russia and Japan. The 1956 Declaration does not mention anything about the fate of two other islands - Kunashir and Iturup.

In September, Vladimir Putin offered Shinzo Abe to sign a peace treaty before the end of 2018 without preconditions, but Japan rejected the proposal by claiming that the peace treaty would not be concluded until the countries settle the territorial dispute.

Russia and Japan have been negotiating the signing of the peace treaty for more than 70 years. Tokyo insists on the return of the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai. Moscow believes that the Southern Kuriles became part of the USSR following the results of the Second World War, and sovereignty over them shall not be questioned.

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