Japan protested to Russia because of Trutnev’s visit to Iturup

Japan, through diplomatic channels, protested to Russia because of the visit of Deputy Prime Minister – Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev to Iturup Island. About this with reference to the Japanese agency Kyodo informs TASS.

The Japanese government stated that Trutnev’s visit “does not correspond to the country’s position on the northern territories and is completely unacceptable.”

Trutnev, during a visit to the Sakhalin Region, arrived on Iturup Island in the Kuril Islands on July 4, where he visited a number of industrial enterprises. He also held a meeting on the work of the preferential regime in the islands. Trutnev urged the leadership of the Sakhalin region to pay more attention to the development of the Kuriles.

Russia and Japan do not have a peace treaty following World War II due to the protracted dispute over the South Kuriles. The state of war between the two countries was officially ended in 1956 after the conclusion of the Moscow Declaration, after which the USSR and Japan resumed diplomatic relations. According to Tokyo’s position, the Russian Federation should hand over to Japan four southern islands of the Kuril chain (Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan, Habomai Islands). Moscow, on the other hand, recognizes the USSR declaration of 1956, which refers to the possibility of transferring the two islands after the conclusion of a peace treaty.

In February, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke of the need to conclude a peace treaty and settle the territorial dispute with Russia. At the same time, he stressed that Tokyo has not changed its position on the issue of ownership of the islands that make up the southern part of the Kuriles. On February 10, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the issue of a peace treaty with Japan closed, emphasizing the impossibility of negotiations due to Tokyo’s “openly unfriendly” position.