Russia-Japan talks on disputed Kuril Islands

Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for talks aimed at striking a deal to end the longstanding territorial row over the Kuril Islands in the western Pacific

Southern Kurils: Disputed islands,known as Northern Territories by Japan

RUSSIA

Sea of Japan

JAPAN

Sakhalin Island (RUSSIA)

Sea of Okhotsk

Iturup (Etorofu)

Kunashir

Hokkaido

Habomai Islands

Kamchatka Peninsula (RUSSIA)

Kuril Islands

Shikotan

200km 125 miles

Matua Island Russia planning new naval base

PACIFIC OCEAN

Kunashir and Iturup Russian coastal defence missile batteries deployed

P-800 Oniks anti-ship missile

HISTORY OF KURIL DISPUTE

1855: Treaty of Shimoda gives southern Kurils to Japan and rest of island chain to Russia. Sakhalin Island under joint administration

1875: Treaty of St. Petersburg cedes all Kurils to Japan in exchange for Russian jurisdiction over Sakhalin

1905: After Russia’s defeat in Russo-Japanese War, Japan gains control of southern Sakhalin

1945: Soviet Union occupies entire Kuril chain and southern Sakhalin after declaring war on Japan during final days of World War II

1951: Japan renounces claim to Kurils in Treaty of San Francisco,signed between Japan and Allied powers. Soviet Union does not sign,and Japan later claims four southern islands are not part of Kuril chain

1956: Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration restores diplomatic ties between two countries. Soviet Union agrees to cede islands of Shikotan and Habomai to Japan after signing of formal peace treaty. Japan claims territorial rights to all four southern islands, so no agreement is signed

Sources: Stratfor, wire agencies