Russia Summons Japan Envoy over Disputed Island

Tokyo, Aug. 17 (Jiji Press)–Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that he had asked Japanese Ambassador to Russia Akira Muto to appear at his ministry after Japan protested Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to a disputed northwestern Pacific island last week. At a press conference, Lavrov said he summoned the ambassador immediately after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi voiced their protest over Putin’s visit to the island on Thursday. Lavrov said the Japanese Embassy in Moscow replied that Muto could not appear before the foreign minister on Friday or Monday, the dates specified by the ministry, without further explanation. The Russian minister described the situation as completely unacceptable and a clear breach of protocol. He added that he would discuss with Muto not only Japan’s response to Putins visit to Etorofu but also how ambassadors should carry out their duties in the host country. Takaichi and others protested Putin’s visit to Etorofu, one of the four islands called the Northern Territories in Japan. The islands are claimed by Tokyo but controlled by Moscow, after they were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. On Wednesday, Putin inspected Russian naval drills in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk in the Russian Far East and reportedly claimed that international documents confirm the Kuril Islands, including the four islands, are Russian territory. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]