Is a deal on the Kuril Islands ever possible?

For decades Russia and Japan have been locked in a dispute over the Kuril Islands, which sit between Hokkaido in Northern Japan and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. At the end of World War Two, the island chain was annexed by the Soviet Union, who deported around 17,000 Japanese residents.

Japan claims four of the southernmost islands and refers to them as the Northern Territories. Attempts to resolve the dispute have made little progress so far. Then in August of this year, Russia’s President Putin visited the Kuril Islands for the first time since taking office. Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi criticised the visit as “absolutely unacceptable”.

So, considering the current situation, is a deal on the Kuril Islands ever possible?

Our guest panel include Tessa Morris-Suzuki, professor emerita of Japanese history, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia; John Nilsson-Wright, professor of Japanese politics and international relations of East Asia, Cambridge University, UK; James DJ Brown, professor of political science, Temple University, Tokyo, Japan, and Valérie Niquet, senior research fellow and director of the Japan programme, Foundation for Strategic Research, Paris, France.

(Photo: Kuril islands in Siberia, Russia in July, 1993. Credit: Francois Lochon/Gamma-Rapho)

Presenter: Charmaine Cozier Producer: Jill Collins Researcher: Evie Yabsley Technical producer: Nicky Edwards Production co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Production management assistant: Tim Fernley Editor: Tom Bigwood