Status of the Southern Kurils: Issues of History and Problems of Ensuring Russias National Interests

Introduction. After the end of World War II, a peace treaty between Russia and Japan was never signed. The reason for this lies in the dispute between the two states about the ownership of the Southern Kurils. The intensification of Russian-Japanese negotiations on this issue in recent years actualizes the topic of this study in the context of ensuring the interests of Russia and the inviolability of its territory. Methods and materials. In this paper, the authors use the following methods: interdisciplinary historical, formal-logical, formal-legal. The use of forecasting and modeling methods contributes to the formulation of the main conclusions of the study. The theoretical basis of the research is presented by monographs and scientific articles on the history of Russian-Japanese relations over the Southern Kurils. Analysis. The paper presents the experience of relations between Russia and Japan since the mid-19th century. The basic international treaties that laid the legal basis for the territorial affiliation of the Southern Kurils have been studied in detail. The current state of the Russian-Japanese relations over the Southern Kurils has been analyzed. Japans claims to the Southern Kurils have been assessed in terms of the territorial and economic aspects. Results. The authors conclude that the territorial belonging of the Southern Kuril Islands was recognized by the international community of states as a whole on the basis of provisions of treaties in force at the time of concluding the Joint Declaration of the USSR and Japan of 1956, which entails the nullity of paragraph 2 of clause 9 of this Declaration. The inclusion of provisions on the non-separability of Russian territories in the Russian Constitution requires legislative concretization of the inadmissibility of territorial concessions by Russia in case of the conclusion of a peace treaty with Japan. The conclusion of a peace treaty based on the results of the agreements reached during the negotiations is also possible under other conditions that are not limited to the transfer of the Southern Kurils to Japan. In particular, it is possible to follow the path of economic integration of the respective territories by both countries.