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Russia PM’s visit to disputed island irks Japan
MOSCOW, Aug 2, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on
Friday visited one of a chain of far-eastern islands claimed by Japan,
sparking a protest from Tokyo.
Paying a visit to Russia’s Sakhalin Island, Medvedev also went to Iturup,
one of the four islands contested by Japan, where it is known as Etorofu.
“This is our land,” Medvedev told reporters during the trip which included
visits to a fish-processing plant and hot springs.
“These islands are part of the Sakhalin region,” he said in televised
remarks, reiterating Russia’s traditional stance.
“What grounds can there be for our concern?” he said, referring to Japan’s
protests.
The Japanese foreign ministry said Medvedev’s decision to visit the island
was “extremely regrettable.”
“Even now, more than 70 years after the war, territorial issues have not
been solved with the Soviet Union/Russia and intensive peace treaty
negotiations have been underway,” the Japanese foreign ministry said in a
statement.
“We will strongly urge Russia to constructively deal with issues such as
the signing of a peace treaty to move forward the future Japan-Russia
relationship.”
Medvedev said that the more Japan protested the more reasons Russian
officials had to visit the islands known in Russia as the Kurils and the
Northern Territories in Japan.
The Kurils, which lie north of Japan’s Hokkaido island, have been
controlled by Moscow since they were seized by Soviet troops in the dying
days of World War II.
Last year, President Vladimir Putin suggested that Russia and Japan sign a
peace treaty, ending World War II hostilities “without any preconditions”.
Both countries have made little progress on the issue in recent months
however.
Medvedev travelled to the Kuril island of Kunashir as president in 2010,
becoming the first Russian leader to visit the disputed islands and provoking
fury in Tokyo.
He has also visited the islands several times as prime minister.
BSS/AFP/BZC/1535HRS