Almost two-thirds of Russians (65 percent) have a negative attitude on the possible return of two of the four Kuril Islands to Japan, while 14 percent are indifferent, and only 9 percent gave nod to the return, the Interfax News Agency reported on Thursday.  

These figures come from a nationwide poll of 1,500 adults conducted by the Public Opinion Foundation on Nov. 20, the report said.

In the same poll, 40 percent of investigated residents described Japan as a friendly nation, while 33 percent hold the opposite opinion, compared to 56 percent and 27 percent in a similar poll taken on March 10, 2001.

Sociologists said people received a higher education (19 percent) and Muscovites (21 percent) were more supportive of returning the islands. They believe that the Japanese, as rational people.

As of the peace treaty between Russia and Japan, some respondents believed that the treaty is likely to be impossible without resolving the territorial dispute, but if it is signed, Japanese "investments will start streaming in" to the Russian economy, according to the Interfax.

On Nov. 15 Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia sticks to the joint Soviet-Japanese declaration signed in 1956. Under the declaration, the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, the two of the four islands known as the Southern Kurils in Russia, would be transferred to Japan after the signing of the peace treaty.

Prior to Putin, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergei Lavrov in an interview with Russia's NTV television network declared on Nov. 14 that Russia recognize the 1956 declaration as extant, but its implementation demands that both parties maintain dialogue.

(Xinhua News Agency November 26, 2004)