[Tintin Storm]

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, like all his predecessors in this post, has repeatedly expressed his country's position on the southern Kuril Islands. This position is that the islands are allegedly the original territory of Japan and that the Japanese sovereignty extends to the southern Kuril Islands. Moreover, Abe intends to sign a peace treaty with Russia during his staying in power, resolving a territorial problem, i.e. returning the Kuril Islands to Japan.
The Prime Minister of Japan notes that the discussion of the issue is based on all the documents and agreements that have been reached so far. At the same time, he noted that the Japanese-Soviet Declaration of 1956 is the only document ratified by the parliaments of the two countries, and it remains valid.
However, Moscow does not want to give Tokyo the islands, since they are of great strategic importance for Russia. With the hypothetical transfer of Kunashir and Iturup Islands, Russia will no longer be able to control the entrance to the Sea of Okhotsk. The transfer of the islands under the jurisdiction of Japan will take from Russia control of Katherine's Strait between Kunashir and Iturup Islands, which does not freeze at all and allows the fleet to go to the open sea.
Furthermore, Russia is undoubtedly worried about the increased military cooperation between Japan and the United States, and as a result, it is assumed that as soon as the islands are transferred to Japan, American military bases will appear there. It is worth recalling that, according to the 1960 Treaty on Mutual Cooperation and Security Guarantees between the USA and Japan, Washington has the right to "create and use military bases throughout Japan, and also deploy any amount of weapons on them". However, as the Japanese authorities specify, the Americans cannot increase their presence without the special permission of official Tokyo.
And yet, the fact that, in the event of the transfer of the Kuril Islands to Japan, American bases sooner or later appear on them, is undoubted. According to international experts, this will definitely happen - the United States will be able to deploy bases there at any time. From a financial point of view, there will be no problems at all: when it comes to geopolitics, Washington takes the matter very seriously and understands all the importance. Americans are able to deploy bases there very quickly and they can create it within a month.
Moreover, it is known that Shinzo Abe made it clear to the President of the United States that the Japanese administration would be able to provide territory for the deployment of the American missile defense system on Iturup Island, which is best suited to bring down intercontinental ballistic missiles that are directed towards the US. It is known that the American air defense system "Aegis Ashore" is planned to be deployed in the prefectures of Yamaguchi (which is located on the island of Honshu) and Akita (which is located in the northern part of the country), but from these two points it will be difficult to perform such actions. Iturup Island is the best one for this. According to the Abe Cabinet, these actions will also contribute to the protection of Japan from ballistic missiles.
At the same time, the deployment of air defense systems on Iturup Island will give the American authorities the opportunity to block the base of the Pacific Fleet, which is located in Vladivostok city and will make it possible to quickly track the launches of Russian missiles from the Sea of Okhotsk.
Thus, the Southern Kuril Islands, the transfer of which the government of Japan requires, will become a perfect location for American missiles. According to the US military, the location of air defense systems on Iturup Island will allow the United States and Japan to be protected from North Korean ballistic missiles. It is alleged that the weapons placed on Iturup Island will be able to strike the missile at an early stage of its launch - even before the separation of the warheads, which will increase the chances of it being shot down. Undoubtedly, Tokyo will meet its American allies and as soon as the islands come under the jurisdiction of Japan, construction and deployment of American military bases will begin there.

[ThirdTerm]

Moreover, it is known that Shinzo Abe made it clear to the President of the United States that the Japanese administration would be able to provide territory for the deployment of the American missile defense system on Iturup Island, which is best suited to bring down intercontinental ballistic missiles that are directed towards the US.

Shinzo Abe actually intended to do the opposite, contrary to the right-wing fantasies about the deployment of the American missile defense system on Iturup Island by an obscure novelist, which was picked up by the Russian media. Iturup Island is not even up for negotiations. There will be no American presence in the Northern Territories.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that if the South Kuril Islands are handed over to Japan, the creation of US military bases on those islands will be possible only after Tokyo gives its consent, RIA Novosti reported, citing Kyodo News Agency.

The United States has the right to establish military bases in Japan. However, in the case of the Kuril Islands, the deployment location must be coordinated with the Japanese government, Abe stated.

Putin had a separate meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Abe at the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan. Japanese officials say the two sides have yet to agree on the most fundamental issues on a long-standing territorial dispute as Putin made an about-face, hounded by hostile media questions on the matter. He now says there will be no transfer of the Northern Territories to Japan as he cannot control the media frenzy. The joint economic cooperation projects of the two countries on Shikotan (Russian: Шикотан) and Habomai Islands (Russian: острова Хабомаи) to build up mutual trust may be a cheap alternative to a peace treaty. Shikotan and Habomai Islands are strategically insignificant islands just south of Iturup Island, where only two thousand Russian fishermen live.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, praised the launch of several new economic projects on Saturday in Osaka, but failed to reach any major breakthrough in a long-standing territorial dispute — a huge setback for Abe, who has invested a significant amount of political capital in the issue.

In a news conference after the meeting, conducted on the sidelines of the G20 summit, Abe said the two agreed to “continue negotiations” over the dispute of the Russian-held islands off Hokkaido, called the Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kurils in Russia.

Abe, however, didn’t mention any specific progress in the territorial talks, merely saying “the outline of the issues we should overcome are now becoming clear” — almost the same phrase used by Foreign Minister Taro Kono after he met his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, on May 31 in Tokyo.

Putin hailed some of the ongoing joint economic cooperation projects of the two countries. But on the territorial row, the Russian leader only said those projects will build up mutual trust and help prepare a good environment for the negotiations.

The prime minister, who had been trying to reach an agreement with Putin in time for the Group of 20 Osaka summit, has met with the Russian leader as many as 26 times so far, an unusually high number.

Ahead of the meeting, Japanese officials were already striking a pessimistic tone, saying the two sides have yet to agree on the most fundamental issues.

[Tintin Storm]

I can not agree with you and I do not like the way you call the Kuril Islands - the Northern territories. These islands are strategically a very important element for Russia, because the straits of the Kuril islands provide Russia free access to the open ocean. And Japan just aims to deploy American military bases there. Putin never told that Moscow had any plans to transfer the islands to Tokyo. And in Russia they always talked about signing the peace treaty but... as you can see.. Tokyo just want to grab the islands and get more powerful

[JohnRawls]

I can not agree with you and I do not like the way you call the Kuril Islands - the Northern territories. These islands are strategically a very important element for Russia, because the straits of the Kuril islands provide Russia free access to the open ocean. And Japan just aims to deploy American military bases there. Putin never told that Moscow had any plans to transfer the islands to Tokyo. And in Russia they always talked about signing the peace treaty but... as you can see.. Tokyo just want to grab the islands and get more powerful

I got a hypothetical question though. Why is there a need for all this war posturing. Why can't Russia just join the EU and US? You can be an independent country or can join the EU as long as everyone follows a set of principles that currently exist. We offer better prosperity, growth, better standard of living, technology etc as benefits. What is the point of trying to forge your own path and failing when you can just ride the bicycle?

[ThirdTerm]

I can not agree with you and I do not like the way you call the Kuril Islands - the Northern territories. These islands are strategically a very important element for Russia, because the straits of the Kuril islands provide Russia free access to the open ocean. And Japan just aims to deploy American military bases there. Putin never told that Moscow had any plans to transfer the islands to Tokyo. And in Russia they always talked about signing the peace treaty but... as you can see.. Tokyo just want to grab the islands and get more powerful

I am afraid you are basically misinformed. The Soviet-Japan Joint Declaration of 1956 stipulated that the Soviets would return Shikotan and Habomai upon signing the peace treaty, while Kunashir and Iturup would remain in Russian hands. If you look at the map, Shikotan and Habomai are small islands which would not block Russia from accessing the Pacific Ocean. I think most Russians are not familiar with the geography of the region, if they believe that Kunashir and Iturup will be taken by Japan. The Japanese government had been making a big deal out of the territorial dispute because of the former islanders who were expelled from the islands in 1945 and they are still alive and kicking. I think these nagging wartime issues will go away when this generation passes away.



Article 9 of the Joint Declaration stated: "The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty. Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty".

[annatar1914]

I got a hypothetical question though. Why is there a need for all this war posturing. Why can't Russia just join the EU and US? You can be an independent country or can join the EU as long as everyone follows a set of principles that currently exist. We offer better prosperity, growth, better standard of living, technology etc as benefits. What is the point of trying to forge your own path and failing when you can just ride the bicycle?

Nobody sane wants to be part of the EU Borg Collective, of your degenerate materialistic liberal ways, even within the EU system itself. Russia is it's own civilization, and fortunately turning away from being a bad copy of a Western Civilization rotting from within and in it's final death throes.

[JohnRawls]

Nobody sane wants to be part of the EU Borg Collective, of your degenerate materialistic liberal ways, even within the EU system itself. Russia is it's own civilization, and fortunately turning away from being a bad copy of a Western Civilization rotting from within and in it's final death throes.

The Russian civilization is rotting away as we speak and even to a further degree that it has ever done before. I don't know when Russia was further behind than the rest of Europe in its history. It wasn't this behind under Yeltsin or the post-Tsarist civil war. Perhaps under the Mongol Tatar Yoke but that is not a fair comparison because Russia was much smaller and the world was different. I do not think that there has been a disparity of 1 to 15-20 between Europe in many fields not just economy.

Perhaps my hidden point being is that for all the posturing, Europe doesn't want Russia to collapse which is a semi-possibility right now. We don't want that. If Russia collapses than we will have a border with China be it in Romania, Estonia, Urals or whatever else. This should be prevented. The fallout from such a situation is undesirable for Europe and well Russia itself.

If our system is so rottern than how come we Eurofucks managed to exceed Russia to such a degree?

[annatar1914]

The Russian civilization is rotting away as we speak and even to a further degree that it has ever done before. I don't know when Russia was further behind than the rest of Europe in its history. It wasn't this behind under Yeltsin or the post-Tsarist civil war. Perhaps under the Mongol Tatar Yoke but that is not a fair comparison because Russia was much smaller and the world was different. I do not think that there has been a disparity of 1 to 15-20 between Europe in many fields not just economy.

Perhaps my hidden point being is that for all the posturing, Europe doesn't want Russia to collapse which is a semi-possibility right now. We don't want that. If Russia collapses than we will have a border with China be it in Romania, Estonia, Urals or whatever else. This should be prevented. The fallout from such a situation is undesirable for Europe and well Russia itself.

If our system is so rottern than how come we Eurofucks managed to exceed Russia to such a degree?

I think that you're getting 'high on your own supply' with this kind of talk .

By every historical metric of a nation's spiritual and cultural health, the real roots of the prosperity that lasts (that doesn't turn into a millstone around the collective necks of it's citizens), Russia is far healthier than the EU.

And yet, the absolute geopolitical disaster that was the collapse of the Tsarist Empire and then the Soviet Union has it's effects for sure, it could turn out exactly as you say. But we'll survive, it's what we do.

The West will not survive.

[Tintin Storm]

I got a hypothetical question though. Why is there a need for all this war posturing. Why can't Russia just join the EU and US? You can be an independent country or can join the EU as long as everyone follows a set of principles that currently exist. We offer better prosperity, growth, better standard of living, technology etc as benefits. What is the point of trying to forge your own path and failing when you can just ride the bicycle?

I think that the Russians, for some reasons, are unlikely to join the EU. But the most important problem is the divergence in geopolitical interests between the parties. Putin will not follow in line with the policy of the EU .. Also, joining the EU will reduce Russia's internal sovereignty. The only plus is a visa-free regime, but as far as I know, not everyone in Russia can afford to travel and even more so to countries where they pay in euro...

[Tintin Storm]

I am afraid you are basically misinformed. The Soviet-Japan Joint Declaration of 1956 stipulated that the Soviets would return Shikotan and Habomai upon signing the peace treaty, while Kunashir and Iturup would remain in Russian hands. If you look at the map, Shikotan and Habomai are small islands which would not block Russia from accessing the Pacific Ocean. I think most Russians are not familiar with the geography of the region, if they believe that Kunashir and Iturup will be taken by Japan. The Japanese government had been making a big deal out of the territorial dispute because of the former islanders who were expelled from the islands in 1945 and they are still alive and kicking. I think these nagging wartime issues will go away when this generation passes away.



Article 9 of the Joint Declaration stated: "The U.S.S.R. and Japan have agreed to continue, after the establishment of normal diplomatic relations between them, negotiations for the conclusion of a peace treaty. Hereby, the U.S.S.R., in response to the desires of Japan and taking into consideration the interest of the Japanese state, agrees to hand over to Japan the Habomai and the Shikotan Islands, provided that the actual changing over to Japan of these islands will be carried out after the conclusion of a peace treaty".

The problem is not in the straits themselves or their affiliation to any of the two countries, but in the fact that if at least 1 kilometer is under the control of Japan, there will immediately appear American military bases. This is a big threat to the security of Russia from the Far East.

[Tintin Storm]

The Russian civilization is rotting away as we speak and even to a further degree that it has ever done before. I don't know when Russia was further behind than the rest of Europe in its history. It wasn't this behind under Yeltsin or the post-Tsarist civil war. Perhaps under the Mongol Tatar Yoke but that is not a fair comparison because Russia was much smaller and the world was different. I do not think that there has been a disparity of 1 to 15-20 between Europe in many fields not just economy.

Perhaps my hidden point being is that for all the posturing, Europe doesn't want Russia to collapse which is a semi-possibility right now. We don't want that. If Russia collapses than we will have a border with China be it in Romania, Estonia, Urals or whatever else. This should be prevented. The fallout from such a situation is undesirable for Europe and well Russia itself.

If our system is so rottern than how come we Eurofucks managed to exceed Russia to such a degree?

I can`t agree with you. Despite the fact that Russia is lagging behind the EU in some areas, Russia is independent and is able to exist well without any countries` help. The territory of Russia is more than 17 100 000 km2, when the territory of all EU countries is only 9 826 630 km... Also they have their own resources of gas, oil, frash water and so on. I mean they do not need anyone and I really admire it.

[Tintin Storm]

I think that you're getting 'high on your own supply' with this kind of talk .

By every historical metric of a nation's spiritual and cultural health, the real roots of the prosperity that lasts (that doesn't turn into a millstone around the collective necks of it's citizens), Russia is far healthier than the EU.

And yet, the absolute geopolitical disaster that was the collapse of the Tsarist Empire and then the Soviet Union has it's effects for sure, it could turn out exactly as you say. But we'll survive, it's what we do.

The West will not survive.

Oh yes, especially when we eat that fast food all the time... so we die faster than they

[annatar1914]

Oh yes, especially when we eat that fast food all the time... so we die faster than they

Slava Ruskii, Brat'!

[JohnRawls]

I can`t agree with you. Despite the fact that Russia is lagging behind the EU in some areas, Russia is independent and is able to exist well without any countries` help. The territory of Russia is more than 17 100 000 km2, when the territory of all EU countries is only 9 826 630 km... Also they have their own resources of gas, oil, frash water and so on. I mean they do not need anyone and I really admire it.

Sure, as i said technically it is correct but only works if you want to forget about technology, modern sciences, modern industry etc Russia nowadays has no real advanced technology besides some minor advances in rocketry and military which are not even consumer goods. Besides the point is also that it is not how an a modern economy works. I do not think that people in Russia want to live in 1910 instead of 2019. So basically you are suggesting that Russia can survive if cut from the world then sure i can agree with that. Estonia also can survive if we are cut from the world because we do have all the essentials: water, air, food and oil shale for oil and gas if we needed to. But that is surviving and nobody really wants just to survive anymore.

The size of the country is also more or less irrelevant. You can have a good economy and a good standard of living irrelevant of you being a small, medium or a large country.

[Tintin Storm]

Sure, as i said technically it is correct but only works if you want to forget about technology, modern sciences, modern industry etc Russia nowadays has no real advanced technology besides some minor advances in rocketry and military which are not even consumer goods. Besides the point is also that it is not how an a modern economy works. I do not think that people in Russia want to live in 1910 instead of 2019. So basically you are suggesting that Russia can survive if cut from the world then sure i can agree with that. Estonia also can survive if we are cut from the world because we do have all the essentials: water, air, food and oil shale for oil and gas if we needed to. But that is surviving and nobody really wants just to survive anymore.

The size of the country is also more or less irrelevant. You can have a good economy and a good standard of living irrelevant of you being a small, medium or a large country.

I think that the countries join the EU because of their powerlessness and unwillingness to think their own heads, but just to follow someone`s instructions and to be "protected" of course as long as they are needed to the EU. And the resourses are strongly needed. Not to be dependent on other countries.

[JohnRawls]

I think that the countries join the EU because of their powerlessness and unwillingness to think their own heads, but just to follow someone`s instructions and to be "protected" of course as long as they are needed to the EU. And the resourses are strongly needed. Not to be dependent on other countries.

To a degree you are correct but not fully. Countries join the EU because it provides economic prosperity, investment, stable currency and great many other economic benefits at least for the new members. Obvious other advantages are that we can throw our combined wait around for better trade deals and other geopolitical stuff. Being admitted in to the EU is very convinient as a stamp of approval of sorts for some standards: democracy, classic liberal principles(private property, rule of law, etc), fight against corruption etc The downsides is that we have harmonized regulations to a degree and some common policies.

Right now the problems of the EU are structural mostly in which we need reform. We need to reform our decision making apparatus to a degree OR at the least tackle the migration, euro and debt issues separately. This will come in due time. Actually if Russia joins the EU then we might have a counter balance to the French/German interest. A Polish/Russian block would be possible in such case. That is currently just speculation.

As for Russia, well the main benefits of the EU is what Russia desperately needs right now. Life is not going to get better in Russia without those things. Not in a meaningful way at least.

[ThirdTerm]

I think that the countries join the EU because of their powerlessness and unwillingness to think their own heads, but just to follow someone`s instructions and to be "protected" of course as long as they are needed to the EU.

The EU is an anti-Russian alliance similar to NATO. Russia has the Eurasian Economic Union which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Probably China and Mongolia may join the union in the near future. Eastern European countries are so eager to embrace the EU because they feel insecure, always fearful of Russia's geopolitical influence in the region. It was not a long time ago when the Soviet secret police (NKVD) detained and executed dissidents in the former Soviet satellite states. Putin was a KGB officer in East Germany and he knows how to play the game.

One of the earliest--and certainly the most infamous--mass shootings of prisoners of war during World War II did not occur in the heat of battle but was a cold-blooded act of political murder. The victims were Polish officers, soldiers, and civilians captured by the Red Army after it invaded eastern Poland in September 1939. Strictly speaking, even the Polish servicemen were not POWs. The USSR had not declared war, and the Polish commander in chief had ordered his troops not to engage Soviet forces. But there was little the Poles could do. On 28 September, the USSR and Nazi Germany, allied since August, partitioned and then dissolved the Polish state. They then began implementing parallel policies of suppressing all resistance and destroying the Polish elite in their respective areas. The NKVD and the Gestapo coordinated their actions on many issues, including prisoner exchanges. At Brest Litovsk, Soviet and German commanders held a joint victory parade before German forces withdrew westward behind a new demarcation line. 1

Official records, opened in 1990 when glasnost was still in vogue, show that Stalin had every intention of treating the Poles as political prisoners. Just two days after the invasion began on 17 September, the NKVD created a Directorate of Prisoners of War. 2 It took custody of Polish prisoners from the Army and began organizing a network of reception centers and transfer camps and arranging rail transport to the western USSR. Once there, the Poles were placed in "special" (concentration) camps, where, from October to February, they were subjected to lengthy interrogations and constant political agitation. The camps were at Kozelsk, Starobelsk, and Ostashkov, all three located on the grounds of former Orthodox monasteries converted into prisons. The NKVD dispatched one of its rising stars, Maj. Vassili Zarubin, to Kozelsk, where most of the officers were kept, to conduct interviews. Zarubin presented himself to the Poles as a charming, sympathetic, and cultured Soviet official, which led many prisoners into sharing confidences that would cost them their lives. 3

The considerable logistic effort required to handle the prisoners coincided with the USSR's disastrous 105-day war against Finland. The Finns inflicted 200,000 casualties on the Red Army and destroyed tons of materiel--and much of Russia's military reputation. That war, like the assault on Poland, was a direct result of Stalin's nonaggression pact with Hitler.

The Soviet dictator offered Helsinki "remarkably moderate terms," in the words of British military historian Liddell Hart, taking only territory needed to defend the land, sea, and air approaches to Leningrad. 4 The difference between Stalin's treatment of Finland and Poland underscored his imperial ambitions toward the latter. Moscow and Helsinki even exchanged prisoners once hostilities had ceased. (Stalin, however, dealt harshly with his own soldiers who had been in Finnish captivity. At least 5,000 repatriated troops simply disappeared from an NKVD prison and were presumably executed. 5)

https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for- ... i3a06p.htm

[JohnRawls]

The EU is an anti-Russian alliance similar to NATO. Russia has the Eurasian Economic Union which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. Probably China and Mongolia may join the union in the near future. Eastern European countries are so eager to embrace the EU because they feel insecure, always fearful of Russia's geopolitical influence in the region. It was not a long time ago when the Soviet secret police (NKVD) detained and executed dissidents in the former Soviet satellite states. Putin was a KGB officer in East Germany and he knows how to play the game.

Incorrect. EU is not an anti-Russian alliance. EU was created by Europeans to prevent war and supported by the US because US needed a strong united economic front on top of the NATO military. Right now EU is actually detrimental to US influence and US especially dislikes German semi-overlordship in the EU because it goes against its national interest/security concerns.

[Zionist Nationalist]

del

[Jonnorth]

Incorrect. EU is not an anti-Russian alliance. EU was created by Europeans to prevent war and supported by the US because US needed a strong united economic front on top of the NATO military. Right now EU is actually detrimental to US influence and US especially dislikes German semi-overlordship in the EU because it goes against its national interest/security concerns.

The European Union IS an anti-Russian alliance. Cause in order to put pressure on Russia, the UE, under pressure from the United States, introduced in March 2014 an extensive list of sanctions against Russia. As a result, both Russia and the EU suffered significant economic losses. However, Russia, partly due to import substitution, and partly thanks to the help of China, was able to more or less cope with the consequences of sanctions, while the US did not begin to reimburse the EU for losses incurred from anti-Russian sanctions.

The result of the sanctions was that the EU suffered much greater economic losses than Russia. Why do they need to impose sanctions if they are not inclined against the one to whom they direct them?