Moscow summons Tokyo's envoy over Takaichi's remarks on the Kurils
Russia summoned Japan's ambassador on Tuesday to protest what it called Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's anti-Russian comments on Putin's visit last Thursday to Iturup, the first by a Russian president to the disputed Kuril Islands. The ambassador left after 25 minutes without comment. Takaichi called the visit grave and absolutely unacceptable and said the Northern Territories are inherently part of Japan's territory, both historically and under international law. Japan had already summoned Russia's ambassador after the visit. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday that her comments had crossed the line of decency and criticised Tokyo's militaristic line. The southern Kurils — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai Islands — were seized in 1945 by the Soviet Union, which expelled the Japanese population, and the dispute has kept the two countries from signing a post-war peace treaty.[1]