Japanese politicians came out with a proposal to lift the Western sanctions against the Russian Federation and recognize the Crimea of ??the Russian territory in exchange for transferring the two Kuril Islands to Japan, as it is written in the 1956 Joint Declaration. However, Russian experts argue that this is not the official position of Tokyo. In addition, the Kremlin will not agree to such an exchange. Making similar offers, the Japanese return to the 1990s..

Under Boris Yeltsin, they offered to buy four Kuril islands at a high price..

However, now they are demanding an island in exchange not even for money, but for beautiful pieces of paper, because sanctions are only a document that can be reintroduced at any time, the Free Press reports.. Political analysts call the proposal of the former MP Muneo Suzuki to hold the territorial size unrealistic. According to them, this is quite an odious politician who cannot be considered a representative of the official Tokyo or even of any significant political force.. “True, recently he has somehow strengthened his influence on Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe,” said Valery Kistanov, head of the Center for Japanese Studies at the Institute of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.. The expert explained that Suzuki is worn with a similar idea "for more than one year". He also developed the “two plus two” formula, according to which Tokyo will trade off two islands from the Russian Federation and only then will qualify for two more. Although the declaration of 1956. , which the Japanese remembered, it is only about two islands. Suzuki is a native of Hokkaido, his business was connected with the Kuril Islands, therefore he is also driven by selfish interest, Kistanov said. In his opinion, Japan in the foreseeable future will not recognize Crimea as Russian “neither for two nor for four Kuril islands,” since it is a member of the “Big Seven” and an ally of the United States and will never go against Washington.. "And even more so the Japanese will not be able to require the US to lift sanctions against Russia. As for the Japanese sanctions, they have little effect on our economy.. They are rather symbolic..

Since Abe is forced to balance between Moscow and Washington. For some reason, the Japanese prime minister hopes that Vladimir Putin will eventually agree to territorial concessions. However, there is no reason to think that Putin will give up the islands, in my opinion, no, "the expert concluded. Pavel Salin, director of the Center for Political Studies at the Financial University, notes that anti-Russian sanctions are tied to the situation in the Crimea and the Donbas, so "The Kuriles here, as they say, are not sideways". "Therefore, I’m not sure that even Japan will lift the sanctions if Russia makes territorial concessions or shows willingness to go for them, since these are very different issues.

Japan is very cautious, under pressure from the United States joined part of the anti-Russian sanctions, and does not fulfill them very strictly. These Japanese "half-sanctions" do not create particular problems for Russia. Therefore, it would be strange to give the islands in exchange for the abolition of ephemeral sanctions, "the expert stressed. He also added that the status quo is more advantageous for the authorities of both countries in the territorial dispute, rather than a compromise solution, since in this case they will be “accused of surrender of positions and softness” at home..