Japan summoned the Russian ambassador to Tokyo, Nikolai Nozdriev, on Thursday. The Japanese Foreign Ministry thus protested against the visit of the Kremlin leader to the Kuril Islands, a disputed territory.
Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi has submitted a diplomatic protest note to the Russian diplomat, urgently requesting that it be forwarded to the Kremlin.
Motegi conveyed that this first visit by Putin since taking power in 2000 is “extremely regrettable” and that “it not only has an extremely negative impact on bilateral relations,” but also “hurts the feelings of the Japanese people.”
Also, the Japanese minister reaffirmed that the territories formed by four islands – Kunashiri, Etorofu, Shikotan, and Habomai, from the Kuril archipelago, constitute an integral part of the Japanese territory, reports Agerpres.
The Russian leader traveled to the main island of the Kuril archipelago as part of his tour in Siberia and the Russian Far East, after attending the Russian Pacific Navy’s military exercises. In Iturup, Putin visited a fish processing factory, a hospital, and a school, but did not convey any political message.
The Russian president spoke about Japan a day earlier, when he stated that “under the pretext of events in Ukraine, without deeply analyzing the reasons for this conflict, unjustified sanctions were imposed on Russia.” Regarding the Kuril Islands, he said that their sovereignty is established in international documents, adopted after Japan’s surrender in the Second World War.