Zelensky signs decree to recognize four islands in Kuril archipelago as territory of Japan

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree to recognize four islands in the Kuril archipelago, the so-called Northern territories, as territory of Japan.

"An important decision was made today. It's fair. Legally perfect. Historical. Ukraine confirmed its respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Japan, including its Northern territories, which are still under Russian occupation. Today, I signed the relevant decree," the head of state in his video address on Friday night.

"There is a corresponding statement of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. And we call on everyone in the world to make similar decisions. Russia has no right to these territories. Everyone in the world knows this well. And we must finally act. We must de-occupy all the lands that the Russian occupiers are trying to keep for themselves," he said.

According to the president, "only in this way can we return the full force to international law. The UN Charter and the entire complex of treaties and conventions on which the international legal order is based will work only when the occupiers lose and the nations in the world are protected from any occupations."

"With this war against Ukraine, against the international legal order, against our people, Russia has put itself in conditions – and it is now only a matter of time – of the real liberation of everything that once was seized and is now under the control of the Kremlin," Zelensky said.

He also noted that "Russia, by its example, will show all potential aggressors of the world that an aggressive terrorist war in our time is a way to weaken and inevitably destroy the one who starts such a war."

"The aggressor must lose. So be it. So that such wars do not happen again and that the peace is really long-term. Nothing should be left for the invaders. I believe: justice will be restored for our partners as well," the Ukrainian president said.