Russia is ready to compromise with Japan

The president of Russia noted the need for a peace treaty with Japan to be signed. According to Putin, the issue of “northern territories” so painful for the Japanese side must also be solved in a consistent manner so that none of the parties involved feel like they have lost. According to the Russian president, the main factor that would make moving the process forward possible is expanding cooperation between Japan and Russia. When the level of mutual trust between Japan and Russia is comparable to that observable between Russia and China, then compromise will be reached, the president said.

Thus, the Russian president has hinted that the solution to border disputes with China, in which China received a number of territories formerly controlled by the Soviet Union and Russia, was achieved only because China acted as an independent and friendly power for Russia. The real problem facing the resolution of territorial disputes between Russia and Japan is the latter country’s strategic cooperation with the United States and its de facto American occupation. Under these conditions, the transfer of islands to Japan would mean de facto transferring them to the US, Russia’s main geopolitical rival, which is inadmissible for Russia.

Over the past several years, Japan has expressed interest in closer ties with Russia. Joining anti-Russian sanctions under US pressure and the subsequent Russian response provoked a negative reaction from Japanese businesses interested in cooperation with Russian defense corporations. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly, unofficially expressed interest in meeting with the Russian president despite the negative position of the United States. Russia needs Japan from an economic point of view, especially as a transportation corridor to Europe alternative to the Chinese “Silk Road”, as well as a military and political partner.

In terms of geopolitics, Japan is Russia’s most coveted partner in the Far East. Despite the country’s insular position,​​ Japan is a classic continental power in terms of cultural values. This paradox was noted by the German geopoliticians of the first half of the 20th century. The leading German geopolitician, Karl Haushofer, even proposed the idea of ​​a continental block along a “Berlin-Moscow-Tokyo" axis. Like China, Japan has serious economic and innovative potential, which could contribute to the development of the Russian Far East. At the same time, it does not pose any danger to the sparsely populated border regions of Russia from a demographic point of view.