The meeting between President Putin and Prime Minister Abe in the city of Nagato in Japan, summarizes the good moment of relations between Moscow and Tokyo. In the background the atavistic problem of the Curili, an apparently useless strip of barren islands (reminiscent of Iceland, nda) that unites the peninsula of Kamchatka to the archipelago of the Rising Sun.
The diatribe lasted for almost 150 years, with sovereignty passed definitively with the end of World War II and the capitulation of Japan to the then Soviet Union.
In the last 70 years the question has remained open, with Tokyo having repeatedly claimed possession of at least a part of the islands (the four closest to Japan, to be exact Kunashir, Habomai, Shikotan and Iturup).
Russia has always considered Curillas as part of their territory and of great strategic importance because they allow control of the port of Vladivostok without crossing the gap between the two Koreas and Japan.
The islands, volcanic and sparsely inhabited (20.000 souls in all), are the scene of frequent military exercises but not only: in May 2016 was planned by the Russians to build an air base on the island of Matua, one of the smallest of the archipelago but positioned in the center, perfect gateway to the Sea of Okhotsk. The air base would be essential to extend the strategic reach of the Moscow air forces, in a geopolitical logic linked to the Pacific.
As a sign of good neighborliness, prior to the Putin-Abe meeting, Japan announced the "reduction" of its territorial claims, limiting it to the islands of Habomai and Shikotan only; in response, the Kremlin did not stiffen, leaving a vague gap.
The dispute over sovereignty is framed in a broader geopolitical design where Russia and Japan do not seem destined to be eternal enemies. In view of the inauguration of Donald Trump, which in the general reorganization of alliances will lead to a possible tightening of relations between the United States and China, bilateral relations between the countries of the area become essential. In particular those between Russia and Japan that share an area of increasing geostrategic weight.
Japan from the postwar period onwards followed the West in all foreign policy choices, including sanctions against Russia for the crisis in Ukraine. The political-military alliance between Tokyo and Washington today appears indissoluble. In the light of future relations between America and Russia, the development of dialogue and cooperation between Moscow and Tokyo also seems inevitable, with potential tangible effects throughout the Pacific.
(photo: websites)
