Poll: 17 % of Russians are ready to support the transfer of part of the smoking of Japan

The number of Russians who are ready to support the idea of transferring Japan to several islands of the Kuril ridge for the conclusion of a peace treaty with Japan is increased in two years from seven to 17 percent. According to the Levada Center survey , 74 percent of the respondents opposed the transfer of the islands, and still found it difficult to answer.

Earlier for the entire period of research - since 1992 - the number of Russians who have been in support of the transfer of Kurili did not rise above 12 percent.

At the moment, almost two -thirds of the survey participants (61%) are positively related to Japan, sociologists note.

Four Islands of the Kuril ridge - Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Habomai - cause territorial disagreements between the two countries from the end of the Second World War. Then the Soviet Union appropriated the territories belonging to Japan. The problem of the status of the islands remains the main obstacle to the conclusion of a peace treaty. Russia insists on its sovereignty over the islands. Japan declares its rights to them.

In September, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed to Japan until the end of 2018 to conclude a peace treaty without preliminary conditions. In mid-November, at a meeting of Putin with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring two out of four controversial Kuril Islands after the conclusion of a peace treaty.

The next meeting of the two leaders is planned as part of the Big Twenty summit in Argentina.