Remote 'Russian' islands Japan wants back and why dispute could spark nuclear war

dailystar.co.uk:

Russia and Japan have long argued over the sovereignty of the isolated islands, and Sergei Marzhetsky believes that Japan may be watching how Russia emerges from its invasion of Ukraine to see if it can 'establish control'.

Speaking to the Putin friendly Russian newspaper Pravda, Marzhetsky argued that Japan may try to seize the Kuril Islands while the Russians were preoccupied with the bloody invasion.As the majority of Russia's military contingent is located in Ukraine and on the border, Marzhetsky is paranoid that Japan would swoop in to claim the islands that they have always historically owned.Speaking on the subject previously, Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has always been steadfast on Japan's ownership of the islands, saying: "They are ‘Japan’s inherent territory’ as well as ‘territory over which Japan possesses sovereignty.’"In either case, it is a matter that the government has to deal with."The Northern Territories belong to Japan.

They are the territory on which Japan has sovereignty."Chillingly, Marzhetsky argues that if it came down to it, only a nuclear attack would be able to prevent Japan from 'seizing' the islands.

Currently, there are four islands that are disputed by the two countries: Etorofu Island, Kunashiri Island, Shikotan Island and the Habomai Islands.The argument stems from the end of World War Two when the 1951 San Fransico Peace Treaty stated Japan must give up "all right, title and claim to the Kuril Islands." Russia then staked a claim on the islands that was never recognized in the same treaty.