Ukraine recognizes Kuril Islands as Japanese territory

Ukraine has officially recognized the Russian Kuril Islands as Japanese territory, Report informs via UNIAN.

287 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada supported the decision.

The Ukrainian parliament also called on the international community to continue measures regarding the legal status of Japan's northern territories.

Japan claims the four southern islands of the Kuril chain - Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir, and Habomai - since the end of the Second World War, namely since they were annexed by the Soviet Union. In 1956, Moscow and Tokyo officially signed a cease-fire declaration, but a peace treaty was never concluded.

Japanese diplomats officially called the islands "illegally occupied" until 2003 and "ancestral lands" until 2012. Since 2012, the government has avoided such rhetoric, hoping to reach a compromise with Russia.