Where do you stand in the Kuril Islands dispute?

[VGPolyglot]

DonFerrari said:

VGPolyglot said:

Most Russians live in the European portion, which is so far away from the Kuril Islands that going there is just unfeasible to escape famine.

So the merit of they keeping the island because Japan didn't need it to grow economically is more or less relevant than Russia not needing the land because they still have plenty of unocuppied land?

Well, essentially the merit of Russia keeping the islands is that they already have control of them, and Japan is essentially claiming them despite knowing full-well that they are not going to get back what they are claiming (despite possibly Hobamai and Shikotan).