Japan To Voice Protest Over Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's Visit To Iturup

TOKYO (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th July, 2021) Japan plans to voice protest over Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin's visit to the island of Iturup in the disputed Kuril Island chain, Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told reporters on Monday.

Mishustin arrived on the island of Iturup on Monday.

"The visit of the Russian Prime Minister to Iturup does not coincide with the stance of our country on the Northern Territories and is extremely regrettable. In the near future, a protest will be voiced to Russia," Katsunobu Kato said at a Monday press conference in Tokyo.

Moscow-Tokyo relations have long been complicated by the fact that they never signed a permanent peace treaty following World War II.

Japan claims the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai islands in Russia's Kuril Island chain, which they refer to as the "Northern Territories" (Russia refers to them as the Southern Kurils). Russia insists that its sovereignty over the islands, which became part of the USSR after WWII, is undisputed.

Last month, Tokyo lodged a protest with Moscow via diplomatic channels over what Japan perceives as the strengthening of Russia's military presence around the Kuril Islands.