For decades, Putin has offered Japan a compromise on the Kuril Islands. So why, on his first visit to the islands this week, did he talk about Russians’ ‘genetic code of winners’ instead?

Since taking power, Vladimir Putin has pursued a peace treaty with Japan, asserting Russia’s sovereignty over the islands while saying he is willing to negotiate on the basis of the 1956 declaration. Japan and Russia have also developed economic ties, including in the Kuril Islands.