Russia PM visits disputed Kuril islands amid Japan’s protest
Russia’s Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has arrived on the disputed Kuril islands off Russia's far eastern coast and just north of Japan, sparking immediate censure by Tokyo, which also claims sovereignty over the chain of islands.
Medvedev landed Saturday on Iturup, one of four islands in the Pacific archipelago for a working visit, in which he plans to inspect a number of economic projects that are part of Russia's Kuril development, Russian media outlets reported.
This is while head of the Japanese Foreign Ministry's European division, Hajime Hayashi, called the Russian envoy in Tokyo to protest the visit to the islands, which Japan refers to as its Northern Territories.
The visit, Hayashi said, "contradicts Japan's position over the Northern Territories and hurts the feelings of the Japanese people... It is extremely regrettable," as quoted by a Foreign Ministry official.
All of the Kuril islands, located in the Sea of Okhotsk, have been administered by Russia since the end of World War II, when its forces seized the islands following Japan’s surrender in the war. Japan, however, claims sovereignty over four of them -- Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai.
This is while the Russian Foreign Ministry says that Kremlin authorities would continue their working visits to the chain of Islands despite Japan’s protests. Moscow further maintains that Tokyo’s claims reflect its "blatant disregard for the commonly-accepted outcome of the Second World War."
According to press reports, Kremlin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had both expressed optimism about starting to repair ties in an effort to revive trade, with Tokyo seeking wider access to Russia's vast oil and natural gas resources.
The Russian prime minister also paid a visit to the islands back in 2012, while Russia held military drills there in 2014.
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