Russia to restore civilian, defense infrastructure on Kuril Islands - premier

GORKI, July 23. /TASS/. The Russian authorities are planning to restore both the civilian and defense infrastructure of the Kuril Islands off Russia’s Pacific coast as part of the targeted federal program, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday. "We’re restoring both the civilian and defense infrastructure of the Kurils," Medvedev said. According to the Russian premier, "the Armed Forces and the Defense Ministry of Russia are dealing with the military component and the associated civilian component" on the Kuril Islands. "It is necessary to join efforts, all the more so as the islands performed and will continue performing not only the usual function but also the function of protecting our frontiers," the prime minister said. "This is why, special attention is paid to the units of the Russian Armed Forces present there," Medvedev said. The Russian prime minister thus responded to a request by Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu who had asked the government to integrate the work, which the Defense Ministry was carrying out on the Kuril Islands, including the restoration of the civilian infrastructure, into the federal targeted program for the region’s development. "We and the envoy or the minister [for the Far East] should synchronize our programs in the near term," Shoigu said. "This is because these facilities include healthcare institutions, kindergartens and schools," the defense minister said. Russia-Japan territorial dispute Russia and Japan have no peace treaty signed after World War II. The settlement of the problem inherited by Russia’s diplomacy from the Soviet Union is hampered by the years-long dispute over the four islands of Russia’s Southern Kurils - Shikotan, Khabomai, Iturup and Kunashir, which Japan calls its northern territories. After World War II, in September 1945, Japan signed the capitulation, and in February 1946, the Kuril Islands were declared territories of the Soviet Union. During the Cold War, Moscow did not recognize the territorial problem, but in October 1993, when Russian President Boris Yeltsin was on an official visit in Japan, the existence of the problem was confirmed officially. However, the two countries have reached no compromise over the dispute yet. Read more