Under the agreements signed at the end of WWII, the South Kuril Islands became Russian. Japan has never agreed with this, and its claim to the South Kurils remains the main obstacle to clinching a postwar peace treaty between Moscow and Tokyo.
In the latest twist to the dispute, Japan has shifted from branding the islands 'illegally occupied' to describing them as 'held without legal justification.' According to Russian diplomatic spokesman Alexander Lukashevich, the Foreign Ministry is looking into this change in tone and will soon give its reaction to it. (ruvr.ru)
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