The USA has been backing Tokyo's claims for MORE THAN 65 years already

The territorial dispute between Russia and Japan still makes headlines in Russia. A scandal has recently occurred in the State Duma, when souvenir shops in the parliament started selling Earth globes, on which the Kuril Islands were marked as the Japanese territory.

The problem of the Kuril Islands has surfaced again in Washington, although it might seem at first sight that the USA has nothing in common with the island dispute. However, as experience shows, the USA finds itself involved in almost every single event, which happens in the world. This is what they think at the US administration, at least.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told the Japanese Minister for Ecology Yuriko Koike on Tuesday that Washington was ready to assist Japan in returning four of the Russia-owned Kuril Islands. The Pentagon chief assured the Japanese minister (Koike is in charge of the territorial dispute with Russia) that he understood Japan's position on the matter very well. Rumsfeld promised that the USA would help Japan discuss the Kuril Islands issue during US-Russian talks, as soon as an adequate possibility would appear, RIA Novosti reports.

One shouldn't reproach the current US administration for its excessive attention to the territorial dispute between Russia and Japan, though. It is an open secret that the USA has been backing Tokyo's claims for 50 years already. The US Congress passed a special resolution on the matter in 1952. The resolution, however, was approved on account of the Cold War with the USSR, rather than of the USA's initiative to support Japan in its foreign political activities. Furthermore, Directive 677 of 29 January 1946 said that the command of the US occupation troops excluded all Kuril Islands, including the four islands of the current dispute, from the jurisdiction of the Japanese government. It is noteworthy that the above-mentioned four islands were a part of the Hokkaido Island prefecture before and during WWII – they had nothing in common with the Kuril Islands.

The incumbent administration is not likely to repeat the accomplishment of the US Department of State and the US Ambassador to Russia, which they achieved in 1998. It was announced at that time after the talks between Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto that the US government recognized Japan's sovereignty over four northern islands.
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Dear Japan, if you're going to help out, this would be the time. It's appalling how Russians have overtaken other countries property. It won't stop here. I believe the whole World needs to reclaim what Russians have taken from them.

Japan said, Russia occupied the southern part of the Kuril Islands, which contradicts international law, as well as the invasion of Ukraine. The Japanese government said, "The Northern Territories are occupied by Russia, and we believe that this contradicts the international law, as well as the ongoing attack of the Russian army on Ukraine."

Russia was really struggling to protect its Navy in the black sea against air and cdcm attack, against a foe that doesn't have asm capability in its air force, and virtually no navy to speak of while having an Air Force that's many times larger and more modern. After Russia invaded Ukraine, all past videos about the strength of Russian army look outdated… They can not even take Kiev… so forget about taking Tokyo (and first crossing the sea, which is harder than driving from belarus) There is no way Russias Navy accomplishes anything other then sink against the 4th Largest and most powerful Navy on the planet while I doubt it's air force accomplishes anything in Japanese air space.