Kremlin says talks with Japan over territorial dispute could take years

Like it's been how many decades already, what's another few. Probably going to have to wait until Putin is long gone!

Probably another 75. Relinquishing territory is never popular, no matter how small that territory is.

Very jarring to see the words The Kremlin used. Harks back to the bad old days.

What is the Japanese equivalent of that ^, and of The White House, Westminster, etc.?

Among these island disputes with Korea, Taiwan, China, and Russia, this one’s one the one that seems most legitimate. This is Japan’s version of the 38th parallel.

My estimate is about 1000 years. Crooked Putin will never give up any land: he is going to invade Belarus next.

Keep on talking while we keep on paying for ineffectual politicians!

Just send in Japan Defense forces. What will Russia Do? Drop a Nuke on Japan? Their forces cannot and do not have the ability to retake the Islands back without nuking Japan, at which time it would be over for them..

Putin only understands force. This is the only answer.

ndwarigaToday  09:58 am JST

Just send in Japan Defense forces.

Totally illegal under the current constitution, likely to turn the whole region against Japan and something the SDF probably wouldn't be capable of, but it is one option...

Their forces cannot and do not have the ability to retake the Islands back without nuking Japan...

I doubt if the SDF are up to invading the islands, especially with Shinzo Abe's gang of doddering LDP geriatrics giving them the orders.

Abe pledged to pay 300 billion yen of taxpayers’s money to develop the Northern Territories and now this. Japan has nothing to lose if it takes years to solve the territorial dispute with Russia. Take your time, Putin. You won’t be around forever.

Translation:

Japan, please stop wasting time and pushing for a settlement. It ain't going to happen.

-- Vladimir Putin

And, truthfully, Putin is right. Russia is not going to agree to a peace treaty with Japan that is predicated on returning any of the islands to Japan. That is fact. So, Russia is telling Abe to let it go and not use it as a talking point for domestic politics.

What is the Japanese equivalent of that ^, and of The White House, Westminster, etc.?

The Kremlin referred to the the head of the government of the Soviet Union, as did the White House for the U.S. For the UK, it wasn't Westminster, it was 10 Downing Street.

For Japan? Well, as far as I know, there was never a similar term ever really used in the international press. Nothing that matched the familiarity of the other examples. However, Kantei was used in Japanese, but I never saw it in English-language publications. I sometimes saw "Nagatacho" to refer to the Prime Minister's office, but tended to be used by Japan experts.

The islands were lost to the USSR in 1945. Spoils of war by the Russians.

Some of the comments are amusing,so as I understood when Putin will be over Russia will magically change.

Maybe if you look at the history of the Russian Empire first and the Soviet union then you will realize that Russia was always an empire,a conqueror.

And even when this leader will be finished Russians will replace him with a different person or a system.

I can understand that most of the readers here are from Anglo-Saxon countries and heritage,but the way you look at history might not always be agreed with other cultures.

The island are Russians and there is no self defense force that can invade them without starting a major world conflict.

Despite our different opinions in this matter it is clear that Russia won't give up on the islands,so we better live with it.

Persistent follow up of talks with patience over Northern Territories with Russia can reduce years of delay into months. PM Abe's efforts to find solution to this long pending problem will ultimately become successful to usher in new era of relations between the two countries.

"Could take years to get the islands back....."

Translation: how much will you pay Putin?

The Russians can not be trusted to return any of the islands to Japan. This is after that corrupt fool in the Kremlin said that th '56 deal is still valid. Putin speak with forked tongue

And years and years and years-----if ever!

In other words, Russia is telling Japan to go pound sand. Keep trying to get the islands back and there will be no peace treaty.

Will the Abe's successor (now that he has announced he not going to run again) agree to give up claims on the islands? It all depends on how desperate Japan wants a peace treaty with Russia.