The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergey Lavrov, denounced on Monday the fact that the Japanese ambassador to Moscow has not yet found time to respond to the summons to the Russian Foreign Ministry to address the diplomatic conflict caused by the first visit of President Vladimir Putin to the Kuril Islands, claimed by Japan, reports the Spanish press agency EFE.
At the Embassy of Japan, “they explained that they cannot come either on Friday or Monday, that is, today (…). Regardless, we have summoned him. He must come to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” Lavrov insisted, during a press conference.
Sergei Lavrov emphasized that Moscow wishes to discuss with the head of the Japanese diplomatic mission “how to organize their activities in the host country, by respecting the laws and procedures in force for foreign diplomats in the host country, in this case, Russia”, showing annoyance that the Japanese embassy recently invited a delegation of Japanese businessmen without informing the Russian side, according to Agerpres.
Also, the Russian Foreign Minister criticized the reaction of the Japanese authorities to Putin’s visit last Thursday to Iturup Island, the largest of the four islands that make up the South Kuril chain, referred to by Tokyo as the “Northern Territory”, which administered the entire archipelago until the end of the Second World War.
“Our Japanese colleagues, our neighbors, of course, have far exceeded the bounds of decency with their absolutely unacceptable statements that the Russian president cannot visit a certain part of the Russian Federation,” said Sergey Lavrov.
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