Russia's Territorial Talks with Japan Meaningless
... since the Soviet Union's collapse. The two countries are at loggerheads over international issues such as the Ukraine and Syria situations, he noted. The former ambassador said he can never understand why Japan criticizes Russia for its airstrikes in Syria. Regarding the judo term "hikiwake," or draw, which Putin has mentioned for a solution to the territorial dispute, Panov said that in a joint statement with Japan in 1956, the Soviet Union made the concession of promising the return of two of the four islands. Basically, Japan should not be unhappy with this, he said. In 2001, Putin proposed negotiations ...