2% of Russians living in the Kuril Islands believe that Russia should transfer them to Japan.
Such a sample was provided by sociologists of the VTsIOM Foundation.
It is noteworthy that 96% of respondents unequivocally indicated that the archipelago is the territory of Russia and cannot be transferred to another country. Another 2% of Kurilians found it difficult to answer. A total of 7,695 people over 18 were surveyed. This is about 2/3 of the total number of adult residents of the archipelago.
Earlier in February, the Acting Governor of the Sakhalin Region, Valery Limarenko, stated that a public opinion poll on the Kuril affiliation was intended to "put an end" in this matter.
On February 5, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that in negotiations with Japan on a peace treaty, the first step was for Tokyo, which should recognize Russian sovereignty over the South Kuriles. The peace treaty has not been signed for more than 70 years. Tokyo calls it a condition of returning the islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai under its control: the Japanese side does not recognize Russian sovereignty over the territory of the South Kuriles, considering them to be part of Hokkaido.
Moscow considers the controversial archipelago to be part of the Kuril Islands and consistently recalls the legality of Russian sovereignty over them: they withdrew to the USSR following the results of the Second World War.
