Putin till Abe: Låt oss teckna ett fredsavtal

Relations between Russia and Japan (Russian: Российско-японские отношения, Rossiysko-yaponskiye otnosheniya; Japanese: 日露関係史) are the continuation of the relationship of Japan with the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1991, and with the Russian Empire from 1855 to 1917. Historically, the two countries had cordial relations until a clash of territorial ambitions in the Manchuria region of northeastern China led to the Russo–Japanese War in 1904, ending in a Japanese victory which contributed to the weakening of the monarchy in Russia. Japan would later intervene in the Russian Civil War from 1918 until 1922, sending troops to the Russian Far East and Siberia. That was followed by border conflicts between the new Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan throughout the 1930s. The two countries signed a nonaggression pact in 1941, although the Soviet government declared war on Japan anyway in August 1945, invading of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo as well as seizing the chain of islands just north of Japan. The two countries have been unable to sign a peace treaty after World War II due to the Kuril Islands dispute. As of December 2017 matters remain unresolved, and these disputes have effectively soured relations between the two countries. According to a 2017 Pew Global Attitudes Project survey, 64% of Japanese people view Russia unfavorably, compared with 26% who viewed it favorably. People ages 50 and older are much less likely to hold a favorable view of Russia (16%) than those 18 to 29 (53%). Nonetheless, the Japanese government sees Russia as an important partner for security and counterbalancing China and North Korea in the region. Because of this, since the start of the Ukrainian Crisis and the 2014 annexation of Crimea, Japan has continued to engage with Russia in spite of sanctions against the country by Japan's Western allies. The governments of the two countries have taken efforts to increase relations, including Japanese investment in Russia, military cooperation, and organizing a year of cultural exchange between Russia and Japan for 2018.On 27 April, 2018 in Moscow was held the fourth Russia-Japan forum dubbed The Points of Convergence, where the sides discussed pressing issues concerning the two countries’ trade and economic relations. Toshihiro Nikai, the secretary general of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, was the forum’s special guest, read out Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s address at the event’s opening ceremony. Participants discussed the two countries’ tourism cooperation, investment projects for the Far East and other Russian regions, as well as interaction in the areas of infrastructure, technology and energy industry. [1] On June 23, 2018 Russia and Japan inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Russia's Far Eastern Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) to expand cooperation between the two countries.

Kurilerna är en ungefär 1 300 kilometer lång rad av öar som går från Kamtjatkas södra spets i sydvästlig riktning till nordöstra delen av Hokkaido. Ögruppen har omväxlande tillhört Ryssland (Sovjetunionen) och Japan. Antalet öar är mellan 50 och 60 och deras sammanlagda yta är knappt 16 000 kvadratkilometer. Många är mer eller mindre kobbar och skär. Alla öarna är i dag under rysk jurisdiktion och ingår i Sachalin oblast i Ryssland, även om Japan hävdar att de fyra sydligaste hör till deras territorium.