Problems of the Kuril Islands.
The dispute between Russia and Japan over sovereignty over the Kuril Islands is a legacy of World War II.
The Kuril Islands have been occupied by Russia since 1945, but Japan has been demanding their return. The current dispute is over two larger islands in the southern part of the archipelago that are close to Hokkaido, Japan. But under a 1951 treaty between the Soviet Union and the Japanese government, Japan had formally abandoned the many small islands in the northern Kuril Islands near Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula.
According to the treaties signed between Japan and Russia in the past, the Kamchatka Peninsula was the dividing line between Japan and Russia from 1875 to 1945. Today, Japan is demanding a return to the state of the border between the two countries in 1855, that is, the return of two large islands in the Kuril Islands to Japan. Because of the dispute between Russia and Japan on this issue, the two countries have never signed a peace treaty that ended World War II.
The Kuril Islands have important strategic value, in fact, the Kuril Islands lock the throat of the North Sea, which is rich in oil and gas resources.
—Philip Sebje-Lopez, Oil Geopolitics
